


Starcorp 2: Hostile Acquisitions

by Horatio_Jaxx



Series: The Starcorp Adventures [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:09:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 27
Words: 87,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28778826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Horatio_Jaxx/pseuds/Horatio_Jaxx
Summary: Fifty-three years after the starcorps’ escape from Sol, the star system is under the rule of the UEF. To free themselves from the yolk of this totalitarian regime, several powerful resistance movements reach out to the starcorps for help and divide their allegiances between them. With the future of the Sol System weighing in the balance, the starcorps soon find themselves at odds with each other for the most valuable real estate in the known universe, Earth.In the infinity of space, war is big business.
Series: The Starcorp Adventures [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2109951





	1. Solicitations

“We didn’t abandon Earth, we fled from it. Earth chased us away with its hatred for the starcorps. We were accused of being havens of depravity by Earth leaders almost daily. Earthers were opposed to our very existence, and as far as we can tell that hasn’t changed. Why should we go back to that?”

“It will be different this time.”

“No, it won’t. I am one-hundred and seventy-three years old. I remember how it was in the Sol System. The many combative nationalities, ideologies and religions on Earth that hated us more than they did each other. You may think that Earthers have learned their lesson, but you still exist under the same influences that plagued you then, but now they’re starting to expand out into the star system. Why should we mire ourselves in your social, cultural, political and religious squabbles? How long will it be before you direct your weapons at us?”

“We’re not asking for you to change. We’re asking for your help.”

“You’re asking us to renew our association with Earthers and their hatred for everything that we stand for. We know what you’re asking, and we know how you think. We know you better than you know yourselves. The Earth republics are stuck in the past. You reject anything that conflict with your fiercely held beliefs and prejudices. You evolve grudgingly, and when you do, it only comes after decades of burning new-ideas and new-thinking at the stake. We are the embodiment of what you hate the most, freedom to live as we choose. Earthers are gripped in an endless tug-of-war. The leading members of one side struggles to legislate select biases that they hold to be inviolate, and the leading members of the opposition struggles to institute freedoms that they believe to be theirs by right. This dichotomy is the underlying cause for the endless conflicts roiling throughout your collective republics. On the day of our conception, starcorps threw off evolution by revolution and instituted revolution by evolution. We do not confine solutions to that which will fit within the boundaries of institutionalized norms and prejudices. We embrace progressive thinking that’s supported by a credible argument and does no real harm. Change for Earthers is often forced into existence after a fierce struggle between freethinking minorities and the ingrained prejudices of powerful social conservatives. Our evolution is based on the premise that people will follow what works.”

“The lunacy behind the starcorps dissent into new lows of immorality is your own affair. What we are asking for is your help to topple an authoritarian regime that is oppressing the people of Earth.”

This sociological debate was not uncommon between an Earther and a Spacer. The seemingly unchecked lifestyle of Spacers was looked upon as an abomination by the traditionalists of Earth. One of the outcomes of Earth’s Third World War was the rise of authoritarian regimes and the suppression of progressive thinking. Many of the 19th and early 20th century restrictions on social behavior and conduct were restored by governments that were under the control of a minority of the people. And in almost all cases, these minorities were comprised of people who were fiercely loyal to doctrines, beliefs and conventions that were created and passed down to them by their forebears. Out of necessity, the starcorps did all that it could to do away with extremisms in space. It was decided early in the evolution of space-based civilization that bigotries, dogmas and strongly held opposing ideological positions between segments of the population were dangerous to the starcorps. Acceptance and tolerance were looked for and expected from all who migrated up into the starcorps, and they were largely successful in this. Shortly after the Third World War, the socially conservative Earth grew to despise the socially liberal starcorps for this difference nearly as much as they despised them for all other perceived transgressions. This contempt was more in effect now than for anything the starcorps did in the past. And this was evident in the venomous tone of Elijah Cromwell's immorality remark.

Elijah Cromwell was a representative of the Tellurian Resistance Fighters. He was one of three resistance movement representatives sent from Earth to negotiate with the starcorps for military assistance. Phillip Hecht of the Rebel Warriors Army and Lee Miyoshi of the Free Earth Legion were the other two representatives present for this meeting with HL02's Chief Executive Officer, Anthony Haywood.

HL02 was the 7th starcorp that the trio had visited since they left Earth 28 months ago. Much of this time was spent traveling between the seven separate star systems where the starcorps were located. The fragmenting of the starcorp community out into multiple star systems came about shortly after there departure from the Sol System. The original 57 starcorps came to the agreement that an individual starcorp could make a claim of ownership of an entire star system. It was agreed upon by the member starcorps that the one requirement needed to make this claim was that the starcorp have a fixed presence within the star system that exceeded 500,000 shareholders. This number was picked because of the level of investment needed to sustain a population of that size. This agreement and the desire to claim an entire star system had the affect of forcing many of the starcorps to do mergers so that they had the resources to sustain their populations. At the end of this reorganization, the starcorp community of 57 had condensed down to 23.

So far, the Earth Resistance Movement Representatives had failed to win any allies in their fight with the United Earth Federation. The thought of returning to the Sol System to do battle with the UEF was generally unpopular among the starcorp inhabitants. None of the board members of the seven starcorps they had spoken with wanted to get involved in the perpetual conflict occurring between the many factions of Earth. This was especially true within the starcorps now. The starcorp community was growing slower than their efforts strived to achieve. This dichotomy was wholly due to the size of their populations. The Directors of the starcorps saw the time and expense of an engagement with the UEF as a distraction from productive pursuits. And there was the added problem that there was no guarantee a starcorp could win a war with the United Earth Federation.

The starcorps fled the Sol System 53 years earlier. New wars between the Earth States flared up within a few years of their departure. These conflicts merged into a space war for dominion of the Sol System. Much of this fighting took place in the space around the Earth. The planet endured several surgical strikes from space. The damage was not extensive enough to hinder the industrial output of the planet, but they were powerful enough to produce nearly 50 million casualties. The war ended when there was only one space force left. The government in command of this space force subjugated the whole of Earth through its control of food supply shipments from Mars and with the threat of bombardments from space. Thirty-two months after the starcorps fled the Sol System, the victor of this war marked its rule over the Earth by renaming itself the United Earth Federation.

From the beginning of its rule, the United Earth Federation (UEF) devoted much of its effort to controlling Earth. Resistance to its rule slowed the federation's growth out into the solar system. Their industrial development of the Sol System was half as extensive as they had hoped it would be by this time. This setback was vexing, but it had no negative effect on their control over the system. The UEF's military presence in Sol Space was unchallenged, and this fact maintained their dominion over Earth.

The UEF was a capitalist republic controlled by a single political party. This political party was controlled by a global community of oligarchs. The UEF military existed, primarily, to suppress resistance to their rule. Challenges to their authority with conventional weaponry came to a stop within 3 years of the UEF’s inception. Asymmetrical warfare directed at the UEF increased in number and scope as the years passed. Over time, two-dozen resistance organizations from around the world merged into 3 large underground armies. The Free Earth Legion operated in Earth's middle and far east. The Rebel Warriors Army operated from the north of Europe to the southern tip of Africa. The Tellurian Resistance Fighters operated throughout the Americas. Together they represented nearly 80% of the resistance fighters on Earth and affected more than 90% of the carnage perpetrated against the UEF.

Despite the growth in size and effectiveness of the resistance movements on Earth, the UEF continued to solidify its control over the planet. The spread of UEF government facilities and police forces around the world outpaced the resistance forces arrayed against it. The weight of death and destruction that the resistance armies perpetrated was largely assisted by an ever growing complex of targets. The resistance movements became aware of this reality late in their existence, and the growing rate of attrition to their numbers made this fact even more ominous. In the end, the three largest resistance movements concluded that there was only one way to defeat the UEF. They needed a powerful ally, and the starcorps was the only option they had.

Sending representatives out to plead with the starcorps for assistance was a distasteful choice for many within the 3 resistance movements. The bulk of their talents for fighting an underground war was honed over decades of plotting against the starcorps. The pangs of hatred for the starcorps had only partially dissipated despite their 53 years absence. This was particularly true for many of the senior anti-starcorp rebels within the ranks of the resistance movements opposed to the UEF. For the leaders of the three resistance movements, reaching out to the starcorps was a necessity that was implemented after five years of debate and two years of planning. The two-year delay was due to the difficulty in contacting the starcorps.

Fifty-three years before this meeting, the starcorps used a new method of travel to leave the Sol System that they alone possessed. They referred to the system as a star-drive. Their new drive system put the starcorps out of reach of the inhabitants of the Sol System. Without a star-drive of their own, the Sol System inhabitants were looking at a 70-year transit across interstellar space to reach the nearest starcorp. Sol System explorers lost all interest in long duration space voyages because of the knowledge that the starcorps had this star-drive. Replicating the starcorp star-drive technology was the only research the inhabitants of the Sol System was doing toward interstellar travel. It was this interest that steered the attentions of the Sol System inhabitants toward a string of infrequent energy bursts in the outer star system.

When massive bursts of energy began erupting at irregular intervals and in random locations within the outer reaches of the solar system, officials in the science, military and political disciplines took notice. This interest was not due to any perceived danger. The strength of these bursts was not enough to be a threat to life or property within the solar system, and its intensity dissipated as the aura expanded out. What caught the attention of the scientists studying these energy bursts was its signature. The energy was always identical in quality to the bursts emitted by the starcorps when they activated their star-drives 53 years earlier. When the third energy burst event occurred, the UEF Space Force was quick to seek out and find the starcorp spaceship that produced it. The spacecraft was far too distant from The UEF Space Force to enable them to engage with it militarily. The UEF was limited to observing the spacecraft as it moved across the backdrop of the universe and to watching it disappear several weeks later behind another burst of energy. What these sightings told them was that the starcorps were monitoring wireless communication transmissions in the Sol System.

The leaders of the three resistance movements started believing that communication with the starcorps was possible shortly after these spaceships began appearing. A plan to intercept one of the starcorp spy ships was formulated and put into operation. A well provisioned spaceplane was secretly launched on a trajectory that would take it to the outer reaches of the solar system. When the craft reached the right distant out from the sun, it began transmitting a hail specifically addressed to any starcorp spaceship in the vicinity. The three resistance movement representatives inside the spaceplane were living on sparse rations as they waited for a reply. Being picked up by a starcorp spy ship was the desired outcome. Being captured by the UEF Space Force was the fear. The UEF was sure to hear their hail and come out for them. If a starcorp spaceship did not collect them first they were sure to be arrested. Three weeks out from the start of their hail, it appeared that the outcome they feared would happen. No starcorp spaceship was detected anywhere in their vicinity, and a UEF Space Force Spaceship was 130 hours out from intercepting their spaceplane. It was at this time that a starcorp spaceship suddenly appeared from out of a burst of energy and began a rapid deceleration.

The starcorp spaceship approached the resistance movement spaceplane with extreme caution. This did not surprise the 3 occupants of the Earth Resistance Spaceplane. They anticipated that the starcorp captain would consider the possibility that their hail was the lure of a trap setup to capture their star-drive. To belay this fear, the 3 occupants of the spaceplane complied with all demands of the starcorp spaceship captain. These precautions delayed the collection of their spaceplane by several hours. As soon as the spaceplane was secured aboard the spaceship, the starcorp vessel launched toward interstellar space at maximum thrust. This rate of acceleration was necessary because of the speed the starcorp spaceship came down to so that it could collect the spaceplane. Escaping the fast approaching UEF Space Force Spaceship took all the thrust they could produce. They were just 5 hours away from an engagement with the UEF spaceship when the starcorp vessel reached a suitable speed for the activation of its star-drive. Several hours after their launch, the starcorp spaceship was safely ensconced within the dimension that they referred to as null time and space.

Elijah Cromwell, Phillip Hecht and Lee Miyoshi started soliciting the starcorps for help as soon as they were aboard the spy ship. The captain of the starcorp spaceship Draco deferred their request to the CEO of Starcorp FFL02 in the Alpha Centauri star system. Their journey to FFL02 took three hours in null time and 888 hours in real time to complete. Elijah, Phillip and Lee took their request to the CEO of FFL02 at the first opportunity and were directed by him to his Board of Directors. In the end, Starcorp FFL02 declined their request for military assistance. What they did approve was financing so that the three Earth Resistance Representatives could take their requests to a starcorp in a neighboring star system. What they were given were vouchers for round trip travel to and from a nearby starcorp plus room and board for a set length of time. The neighboring starcorp also said no to the representatives’ request for military aid, but it did provide vouchers so that they could take their solicitation to another starcorp. Refusals and more vouchers went on through four more starcorps. Elijah, Phillip and Lee had visited six starcorps by the time they arrived at HL02 in the star system that they dubbed Astra.

The Earth Resistance Representatives had little hope that their meeting with HL02’s Board of Directors was going to come to a favorable decision for them. This belief was born out of their experiences with the other eight starcorp Board of Director meetings. The reasoning that the previous Board of Directors gave for their refusals to help followed 2 basic lines of thought. The first thought was that war with the UEF would require an expenditure of half their wealth and resources if the endeavor was to have a chance of succeeding. The second thought was a calculation that a loss would bankrupt them. Because of these two concerns, the Resistance Representatives tried arguing for a joint effort involving several starcorps. But this idea only garnered them more vouchers to recruit some other starcorp into this venture. By this time the Resistance Representatives were weary of the process. This feeling had less to do with the 6 starcorps they had already visited and much to do with the 16 additional starcorps in front of them.

It took the CEO of HL02 30 hours to get back to the Earth Resistance Representatives with the report that they were scheduled to meet with the Board of Directors in 68 hours. None of the 3 representatives were surprised by the wait. The Directors were busy people with their own lives. Getting all of them together in the same room for an impromptu meeting meant that 19 separate calendars had to be assessed and a date and time had to be negotiated. The 3 Resistance Representatives had been through this before, but this fact did not make it any less annoying. Waiting for the anticipated refusal to help them only made the wait more infuriating.

The three Earth Resistance Representatives spent much of the time before the meeting doing interviews with different news medias. They were eager to get out their stories about conditions in Sol Space under the UEF. And as expected, the different news medias and their audiences were eager to hear these stories. Everything happening in Sol Space was popular news in all the starcorps. The Earth Resistance Movement Representatives entertained this hunger for news about the Sol System because of their hope that it might win them supporters. This had been the case in the past but never to the extent that they needed. When Elijah Cromwell, Phillip Hecht and Lee Miyoshi arrived outside the Executive Headquarters Structure for Starcorp HL02 a small band of onlookers, supporters and opponents were there to watch them go through the main entrance.

“Mr. Miyoshi, are you saying that we have an obligation to return to the Sol System and go to war with the UEF?”

Director Mark Cooke, a stern looking man, pressed this question with a scowl. All 19 pairs of eyes of the HL02 Board of Directors were looking down the long conference room table and staring at Lee Miyoshi as Director Cooke spoke his question.

“I'm saying the people of Earth are your relatives, and they need your help.” Miyoshi stressed with a healthy expression of frustration.

The meeting of the Board of Directors and the Earth Resistance Movement Representatives had been going on for nearly an hour when this exchange happened. Much of what was said over this time were statements of position and prolonged sales pitches. The debate portion of the meeting had only just started. Miyoshi and his colleagues discerned from the push back they were hearing that they were not going to get a favorable vote, and in this they were right. All nineteen Directors voted no to their request.

“Gentlemen,” Chairperson Helen Fraser began in a solemn tone of voice. “We will not undertake the task that you are asking us to do. However, we will help you to continue canvassing the starcorps. I want you to know that we do wish you good luck with this endeavor, but we cannot take part in a war with the UEF.”


	2. Rise and Shine

Mornings were never a good time of day for Frank Weaver. Sleeping late into the mornings was a lifelong pattern. Growing up in space made this propensity decidedly more manageable because of the absence of a true night and day. Frank situated his sleep and job periods in a way that allowed him to have long mornings before going to work. He used these long mornings to start his day at a lazy pace. During most days this was an effective way of getting up on time, but this morning was different. The day before, Frank went to bed far later than usual. The business venture he was administrating came to a permanent end, and he spent the remainder of the evening on a barstool brooding over its loss.

Frank Weaver was a 94-year-old businessman. His physical person, inside and out, was a match for a man in his late 20s. He had spent most of his life developing and administrating over small startup business ventures. Two of these ventures were wholly absorbed into the starcorp after the startup contract expired. Frank's other ventures were shut down by the starcorp when they failed to perform. This fate was true of Frank's latest business venture.

All but 2 of the 19 business ventures that Frank Weaver began over his lifetime were started with the help of partners. There were 2 reasons why this was so. The first reason was because his ambition tended to be greater than the limits of his finances. The second reason was because 14 of his startups ended in failure. HL02 required a larger than usual investment from Frank before it would fund one of his business ventures. This almost always meant raising more money then he could produce alone. His last startup made this especially true because it was his largest venture by far. It took 15 investors to raise the capital necessary to leverage into existence a risky geological exploration down to the surface of a dangerous planet. The goal of the 3-month long mission was to find valuable minerals in quantities large enough to justify a mining operation. The task was complicated by the fact that the surface of the planet had an average temperature close to 200 degrees, was covered with high mountains and narrow valleys, had nearly 3 times the gravity of Earth, had a dense caustic atmosphere and was awash under a perpetual windstorm.

Frank was an above average salesman. His pitches were loud and obvious, and he had a gregarious manner. This affectation amused most people, made some indifferent to him and irritated the rest. The saving grace of his sales technique was the way he amused most people with his charm and wit. Despite this gift, it took Frank nearly a year to raise the money for this latest business venture. The difficulty in doing this had nothing to do with him personally and everything to do with the risk.

Convincing 14 other investors to join him in this endeavor was a testament to Frank's powers of persuasion. The high potential for profit to be mined out of planet Astra 2 was commonly held belief. The high price of extracting it was an obvious conclusion. Up until Frank Weaver, no one had gotten passed the discussion stage of a geological expedition down to the planet surface. The expedition became reality 26 days earlier. It came to an end the day before this morning. The last message from the planet surface was a declaration from the engineer in charge that the expedition was being aborted. Extreme terrain, protracted delays, breakdowns in equipment and mounting injuries and illnesses took a heavy toll on the mission. The final analysis from the expedition members was that Astra 2 was rich with precious and high value minerals and that the extreme high cost of extracting it would make it prohibitively expensive.

After getting the message that his geological expedition was abandoning the planet, Frank went to his favorite cocktail lounge and began the slow process of drinking his disappointment into unconsciousness. Forty-minutes into this effort, the manager of the lounge stopped serving him alcohol and ordered him out of the lounge. Two security officers noticed his excessive intoxication, escorted him home and attached a fine to his financial portfolio. The fine had an automatic 700-hour delay so that he would have time to grieve it. But this was of no interest to Frank. His mind was numbed by alcohol and dizzy with worry. He fell asleep a few seconds after his head hit the bed. Early the next morning he woke up with a hangover and a depressed mood.

“Where have you been? I need to see you.”

This query and statement were Frank's opening words in a video call to Charlotte Lang.

“What's wrong with you?” Charlotte scorned through the 75-inch wall monitor in Frank's bedroom.

“I've been ringing and ringing,” Frank returned with a look of amazement and with his hands up in front of him.

“Yeah, for ten minutes,” Charlotte countered forcefully. “It's eight in the morning. You know not to call me before 10.”

“I need to see you,” Frank pleaded from his seat at the edge of his bed.

“No!” Charlotte blasted back. “You don't get to break the rules and then get rewarded for it.”

“I had a bad day,” Frank implored. “Can I just get an hour today?”

“No, Frank. I'm busy today.”

“I really need to see you,” Frank whined. “Yesterday was my Waterloo.”

“I said no, Frank,” Charlotte returned with stressed insistence.

“I can be there in 10 minutes,” Frank eagerly assured. “You don’t even have to shower first.”

“No, Frank, it’s not going to happen,” Charlotte protested with exasperation in her voice.

Charlotte Lang was Frank's one and only social contract consort, but the same was not true for her. Because of the allowance that Frank was obliged to pay, Charlotte was the only social contract he could afford in her price range. Charlotte had Social Contract Unions (SCU) with 3 other men. Measured by wealth, Frank was at the bottom of the list, by far. This fact gained him the least amount of her time and was the subject of numerous squabbles between them. Frank had a persistent feeling that he was getting far less of her attention than he deserved. Despite this feeling, he maintained his contract with her and had done so for the past 3 years.

Stunning is a word that was not infrequently used to describe Charlotte Lang. She was not too tall or too short, too thin or large. Most men and women thought her to be well endowed without being overly so. In manner, she was pleasant and engaging. She was not prone to be overly generous with her affections, but it was always dispensed with genuine sincerity. She picked her social contract consorts by the extent of their appeal to her and by the size of their financial portfolios. The value of her social contracts varied to reflect the level of attraction she felt for the man and by the weight of his wallet. Frank's social contract was the least valuable of the 4 that she held and half the value of the next contract up. This was proof of her affinity for Frank. It was also the reason why she put in so little work to keep his contract. But when she did give attention to Frank it was always fondly applied. It was this authenticity in her affections that kept Frank a devoted social contract consort.

“Yesterday was the worst day of my life,” Frank complained in a mournful voice.

“Yeah Frank?” Charlotte questioned in a voice laced with indifference. “Was it worse than the last 2 worst days of your life?”

Charlotte was giving this conversation a small amount of her attention. Most of her thinking was directed at the task of washing and grooming herself for the day. The cameras built into the wall monitors in each room tracked her as she moved about inside her apartment.

“Much worst,” Frank complained with a shake of his head. “The Astra 2 Expedition is a bust.”

“Is that right,” Charlotte responded as she stepped inside her partially enclosed shower stall. “I'm sorry to hear that.”

Charlotte's condolence had the sound of insincerity. She made no eye contact with Frank as she slid shut the translucent shower stall door and commenced with her wash.

“Astra 2 was going to be my big score,” Frank brooded with animated hands.

“You'll get another big score, Frank,” Charlotte spoke back with a bored inflection. “You always do.”

“Not like this one. Astra 2 was going to make me rich.”

“Really,” Charlotte called out over the sound of water spewing out from the overhead spigot.

“Sure, I was the smallest investor,” Frank continued to explain. “But if it had worked out I would have got a return hundreds of times that investment.”

“That much?” Charlotte shouted out with a forced inflection of intrigue.

Frank gave no special attention to Charlotte's activity. He had seen her do similar things before. Many times, in the past, he had seen her nude and she him. The social contract between them was a legal agreement that allowed them to engage in consensual sex.

“I mean, I knew it was a gamble—a big gamble—but you have to gamble big if you're going to get anywhere. Am I right?”

“Absolutely,” Charlotte confirmed halfheartedly as she turned off the shower.

Charlotte slid the shower door halfway open and reached out for a towel hanging from a hook on the other side.

“The whole idea was mine. I put this deal together,” Frank grumbled out after a pause. “Do you know what that means?”

Charlotte ignored the question. She knew that Frank was going to tell her no matter what she said. Charlotte contented herself to listen as she dried herself.

“I was going to get an extra 3% for putting it together,” Frank reported with excitement in his voice.

“Wow,” Charlotte reacted with nonchalance.

At first Frank gave no notice to Charlotte’s indifference. His thoughts were too busy fuming over the money he lost. His disposition changed when she walked out of the shower wrapped in a towel.

“When can I see you?” Frank pleaded after several seconds of gawking. “I don't want to be alone right now.”

“Frank, no,” Charlotte answered sharply as she stepped under a hair drier attached to the wall. “Go be with your friends.”

The hair drier turned on automatically and began whipping up her. The process took a minute to complete. The blower turned off when Charlotte stepped out from under the drier and set off for her bedroom. Frank commenced with his reaction to her rebuke as she sat down in front of her vanity table. The computer-controlled cameras followed her from one room to the next.

“I don't want to be with my friends,” Frank countered in a sullen voice. “I want to be with you.”

“Well, you can’t be with me today,” Charlotte countered as she brushed out her hair. “I have things to do.”

“Tomorrow then,” Frank insisted.

“Frank, call me next week,” Charlotte returned with a huff.

“Next week?” Frank questioned with his face in a scowl and anger in his voice. “You can schedule out your week with those other jerks, but you can’t make time for me?”

Charlotte took immediate offense with this reply. She stopped brushing her hair, turned away from the mirror and gave the image of Frank in her monitor a stern look before speaking with a harsh tone.

“Hey, Frank, I have a life. I have things to do. I have my dance classes and my finance courses. I don’t spend all my time with my other consorts. And they’re not jerks. You’re the jerk.”

Frank was chastened by the rebuke and visibly backed away from the camera that was videoing him.

“Why can’t you write me in for a day, an afternoon or something right now,” Frank pleaded.

“Because I don’t like to make plans that far out, Frank,” Charlotte groaned out. “It confines me. It makes what I do feel like a job. I can't be spontaneous with a schedule.”

Halfway into this reply, Charlotte began the process of hair removal and the exfoliating of her legs. She accomplished both with a wand that had a hook at the end. The inside of the hook glowed and was large enough to extend around her leg without touching the skin. Charlotte moved the hook up, down and around her left leg in slow smooth motions.

“You always do that,” Frank complained. “You always have some excuse for why you can’t see me.”

“I don’t always do anything,” Charlotte scolded without interruption with her exfoliating. “And we were together last week.”

Charlotte began exfoliating her right leg just as she finished speaking.

“That was three weeks ago,” Frank corrected in a stern voice.

Charlotte made a brief hesitation in her exfoliating to ponder out her response to that retort.

“Was it? Oh! I didn’t know that.”

“That’s because you don’t care,” Frank spoke out with a fling of his arms.

“I care, Frank,” Charlotte defended without a look up to meet Frank's eyes. “It’s just that I have a busy schedule. Let’s do this. I will commit to spending an afternoon with you sometime next week.”

“When?” Frank sharply questioned back.

“I can’t decide that right now,” Charlotte answered with a shrug. “Give me a couple of days to work it out.”

Charlotte finished exfoliating her right leg just as she started this reply and turned her attention to the lotion on the vanity table. Frank started his response in a glum tone of voice just as she began massaging lotion onto her left leg.

“You said that before, and then you said you forgot.”

“Last time I said three days,” Charlotte returned defensively. “And I did forget.”

Charlotte gave no thought to stopping what she was doing as she spoke this correction. The whole conversation felt like a rerun of several conversations she had with Frank in the past. Arguing with him frequently produced verbiage she had spoken several times in the past. This she dispensed without thinking and continued with whatever else she was doing. Frank took a moment to notice this continuing indifference and to grow angrier with her because of it.

“You know what, I should just terminate the contract,” Frank declared with a flare of frustration.

“Don’t go there, Frank,” Charlotte countered with a weary shake of her head.

“Why not?” Frank called out with a flag of his hands.

“Because you never go through with it,” Charlotte answered with a look of disbelief toward the monitor.

“Maybe I will this time,” Frank countered argumentatively.

“Okay,” Charlotte returned with a shrug. “Do it.”

“I’m serious,” Frank ranted. “I have serious issues with this arrangement.”

Exasperation got the better of Charlotte, and she stopped what she was doing to give Frank a bewildered look as she spoke.

“Frank, you’ve been threatening to pull the trigger on that gun for two and a half years. Maybe you should just do it and just get it over with.”

Frank vacillated over this response for several seconds before responding to it with a whole new demeanor.

“Aw, come on,” Frank pleaded. “Yesterday was the worst day of my life. I lost my entire investment.”

Charlotte had just turned her attention back to her vanity table when this declaration startled her.

“You’re broke?” Charlotte questioned from behind a look of concern.

“No, not broke,” Frank prevaricated with a shrug. “I lost all my personal stock, but I still have my common stock.”

“Is that enough?” Charlotte pondered out with a frown.

“I can live off that,” Frank casually countered.

“Is it enough for me?” Charlotte questioned with a stern inflection.

Frank was quick to pick up Charlotte's concern. It did not dawn on him at first that she would be concerned at this time about her monthly allowance. Not worrying about future bills was part of his nature. His mind tended to focus on the here and now to the exclusion of future expenses. Today's gamble will pay off tomorrow's bills, or so Frank optimistically calculated. This kind of thinking was why he had given no thought to his contractual obligation to Charlotte.

“Yeah, Baby, I've got it cover,” Frank returned eagerly. “You know me. Making money is what I do. I always got side deals I can cash out.”

“You’d better,” Charlotte nodded with a scowl. “Because I’m not running a charity.”

“Baby, I'm on top of this,” Frank insisted with a hint of desperation in his voice. “For me, making deals is like breathing. You know that. I can see a good money-making opportunity from a mile away. This is just a short setback. I'll be back up there in no time.”

Charlotte had already turned her attention to the task of moisturizing her arms when Frank started speaking. Halfway through his spiel she mentally turned him off and turned her attention to getting dressed. She got up and searched a dresser drawer for underpants and a bra. She stepped into the underpants and pulled them up beneath her towel. Frank stopped talking to watch her dress. Charlotte then turned her back to the camera, removed the towel from her person and then commenced with the act of putting on her bra.

“Baby, I need to see you,” Frank pleaded as he watched Charlotte negotiate the clasp to her bra.

“You see me now,” Charlotte flippantly spoke back.

“Come on,” Frank continued to plead. “I need to be reminded of what I'm working for.”

“Please, you're going to appeal to my sympathy?” Charlotte questioned as she sat down in front of her vanity table and began applying makeup to her face.

“You know you're the only woman for me,” Frank implored with sincerity. “I'm crazy about you. Why else would I put myself through this?”

Charlotte rolled her eyes and then settled them on the image of Frank in her mirror. A slight look of disbelief appeared on her face as she considered the man in her mirror. A few seconds later she spoke with an inflection motivated by surprise with what she was about to say.

“Tomorrow,” Charlotte spoke with a scolding tenor. “Ten o'clock. One-hour. And don't be late.”

A big smile was on Frank's face as he responded.

“Okay, you got it. Baby, I love you. You're the best. I love you.”

Charlotte rolled her eyes again and then spoke.

“Computer, disconnect video-phone call.”

The monitor went black.


	3. Daiquiri's

Daiquiri’s was a popular cocktail lounge and casino on the promenade floor of HL02's Starship Berlin. The linking of these two forms of establishments was the norm and not the exception within the starcorps. Keeping the long-lived spacer population entertained was a vast industry and gambling was the dominant player in this effort. Anything that could be wagered upon was sure to be found posted with odds on a casino sportsbook board.

The 3 PM hour, 7 days a week, was the time that crowds of people would begin assembling inside Daiquiri’s Lounge and Casino. Mornings, afternoons and evenings did not exist in space, but the starcorps found it useful to create artificial versions of these periods of the day. It facilitated an awareness of the passage of days, weeks, months and years. It also made it easier for the residents to acclimate to set periods for work, sleep and personal time. The starcorps accomplished this deception by gradually dimming and brightening the habitat lighting over the promenade across a 24-hour cycle. The darkest part of the cycle was emblematic of a cloudy night on Earth with a large bright moon overhead.

Frank Weaver and his friends regularly frequented Daiquiri's. Three o'clock in the afternoon, Monday through Friday, was the time they would begin strolling into the establishment, one after the other. Frank walked into the lounge at a quarter to 4 in the afternoon on the day after his Astra 2 business venture went bust. The lounge had half the number of customers of its usual best, but this was still enough to fill the room with talking and music. It took Frank several seconds of looking to find the table where his friends were seated.

“Hey, man, where were you yesterday?” Paul questioned as Frank took a seat at the table.

Paul Hildebrandt was Frank's best and longest friend that was seated at the table. Their acquaintance went back 67 years when they were both junior executives in the sales division of HVL01's spaceplane engine manufacturing. Both he and Frank left the common enterprises of the starcorp and started developing their financial portfolios through private business ventures together. Over the years their many startups and bankruptcies developed into separate business interests, but this had no effect on their friendship. The two other men at the table were James Farnsworth, a private enterprise lawyer and Ron Atkinson, a financial consultant and stock trader. Both men knew Frank as a friend and neither had any private business venture history with him. Their first meeting with Frank and Paul was through a social event, and they continued the association by frequenting the same clubs and attending the same events.

“I got started at eleven yesterday and went home early to sleep it off,” Frank gave as the answer to Paul’s question.

“Yeah, we heard about Astra 2,” Ron spoke up. “That's too bad.”

“How much did you lose?” James questioned from behind a look of astonishment.

“All of it,” Frank answered as he began tapping his drink order into the computer monitor built into the tabletop.

Frank paused to finish inputting his drink request. He touched his wand to the monitor to pay for his drink and then he continued with his report.

“The equipment was purchased and most of it was left behind on the planet surface. I'm flying on fumes.”

“Don't worry about it,” Ron assured. “You'll be back in the game in no time.”

“You take too big of risks,” Paul lectured. “I told you Astra 2 was a disaster waiting to happen.”

James and Ron were surprised by Paul’s rebuke. Their first thought was to give Frank support and encouragement. It took them both a few seconds to comprehend that Paul’s long friendship had stripped away the need to be anything other than bluntly honest.

“If you're going to win big, then you have to gamble big,” Frank insisted in a defense tone of voice.

“Astra 2 was a waste of money,” Paul argued back. “Everybody knew that.”

“Not everybody,” Frank disputed.

Paul took a moment to comprehend who Frank was speaking of, and then he verbally responded to this knowledge in a dismissive tone.

“You should never have listened to that crackpot.”

“Graham is a brilliant engineer with some cutting-edge ideas,” Frank countered with a shrug.

“It was too big of a risk,” Paul concluded with a shake of his head.

“It would have paid off big if it worked,” Frank returned with a smile. “You know I had to go for it.”

Paul’s long history with Frank taught him that his friend was drawn to gambles with long odds. This was the primary reason why he stopped doing joint business ventures with him. This propensity for going for the big score was also the reason why he liked him. It was a level of daring he secretly wished he could match.

“You’re hopeless,” Paul retorted with a smirk and a shake of his head.

“I think it was a gutsy play,” Ron supported in a boisterous voice.

They all gave a laugh in reaction to Ron's remark and then took sips from their drinks. At the end of this Paul broached a related subject with a new question.

“So, what are you going to do now?”

“I don’t know,” Frank answered with a shrug. “I’ll think of something.”

This question and response engendered a new thought and a question.

“Hey, what about Charlotte?” James asked with a stunned expression. “Are you going to dump the contract?”

Frank discounted that idea with a shake of his head and an offhanded “no.”

“No way, you got to be kidding me,” Ron spoke out with shock in his voice. “You can’t keep that contract. You can’t afford it.”

For a second time, Frank waved off this claim with a slight shake of his head and a short, “I’ll work it out.”

Paul noted that his long-time friend was serious and elected to speak up to dissuade him from this course.

“Frank, you’ve got to let her go. She was always too expensive for you.”

“Charlotte and I are soul mates,” Frank countered in a definitive tone. “We're meant to be.”

“Man, you’ve got it bad,” James spoke out in jest.

Ron found this remark very amusing. Paul was amused only half as much.

“Wake up,” Ron called out after his laugh. “That's what she wants you to think.”

Frank immediately started to disagree with that by shaking his head.

“Why did she take on my contract if she wasn't into me?” Frank tossed out with a questioning look.

Ron quickly responded to the question with a look of astonishment.

“Aw, man, don’t go there.”

Frank began defending his inquiry with a quickly spoken argument.

“She’s never taken on more than three consorts before. And my contract must be more than a third smaller than those other Bozos.”

“More than a half smaller,” Paul corrected from behind a look that said Frank was deluding himself.

“You see, she’s into me,” Frank vehemently expressed.

“No, she's not,” Ron disputed from behind a look of incredulity. “She already has 3 consorts. Who else would take on a contract that large for a quarter of her time?” 

“Wake up, Frank,” James continued to argue an instant behind Ron. “You're just supplemental income to Charlotte. You could have four consorts for what you’re paying her.”

Frank did not want to believe what they were saying, but he knew everything they said could be true. It took a second of thought to dream up a response in defense of his obsession with Charlotte.

“I don't shop bargain basement,” Frank tossed out nonchalantly as be picked up his drink.

Paul, James and Ron gave a laugh and a disbelieving shake of there heads as Frank took his drink into hand. They all followed Frank's lead and took sips from their drinks with bemused looks on their faces. To escape these expressions, Frank turned his attention away and noted a news story airing on one of the large TV monitors on the wall facing him. On TV Screen #4 the three Earth Resistance Forces Representatives were going inside HL02's Executive Headquarters Structure. “Directors Refuse Earth Resistance Representatives” was the caption to the story. In the time it took for Frank to read this, his attention was firmly divided between this story and his friends.

“Okay but take my word for it,” James began after swallowing his sip of alcohol. “When you fall short on your allowance payments, Charlotte is going to drop you like a scalding hot rock.”

Paul and Ron agreed with this statement through murmurs and nods. By this time, Frank had lost interest in the subject.

“Hey,” Frank began as he continued to look at TV screen #4. “What do you guys think about these Earth Resistance Representatives?”

Frank activated the audio control built into the table and brought the sound up to its maximum level for TV #4. The sound came up through a speaker in the tabletop and was just loud enough for the 4 of them to discern what was being said if they made the effort to listen. It took the others at the table a few seconds to discern that Frank was referring to the newscast on TV #4 and not the sporting events displaying on the other screens.

“I don’t know,” James answered with a look toward the newscast. “What should we be thinking?”

Frank ignored James’ counter inquiry and spoke his thinking with another question.

“I mean, do you think they have a chance of getting what they want?”

“No way,” James answered with adamancy.

“Not a chance,” Ron insisted at nearly the same moment.

Paul was more interested in the thinking that produced this inquiry. He gave Frank and his interest in this newscast a moment of thought, and then he voiced his own question.

“What are you thinking, Frank?”

“I’m just thinking that maybe they’re going about it all wrong,” Frank mused back as he continued to watch the newscast.

James immediately took exception with this thought and voiced his disagreement in a strongly decided tone of voice.

“No starcorp is going to entangle itself in that Sol System mess.”

Frank paid no heed to the strength of James’ declaration. His mind was too busy musing over the whole situation between Earth and the starcorps. There was only one thing in James’ words that registered within his thinking, and he spoke that thought with an introspective tone in his voice.

“Then maybe it’s not a starcorp that they need.”

Paul was familiar with this look on Frank's face. He knew that his friend was not interested in their opinion, and that everything he said was just him musing over an idea that was rolling about in his head.

“What are you thinking, Frank?” Paul repeated.


	4. Let's Make a Deal

“I need that contract by tomorrow morning, Abel,” Frank insisted with an expression of urgency.

“You’re serious?” Abel questioned with an inflection of surprise in his voice.

Abel Cobb was Frank’s longtime lawyer. He was the man that Frank went to whenever he was thinking about implementing an idea for a new business venture. And he was the person that Frank videophone called as soon as he returned home from Daiquiri’s.

“I have a 9AM meeting setup for tomorrow,” Frank explained hurriedly. “They're going to be on their way out of the system by noon. I need that contract now.”

Abel began shaking his head in disagreement with this idea halfway through this statement. Immediately after the completion of the statement, Abel began voicing his thinking on this topic with inflections of desperation in his speech.

“Frank, even if you can get them to sign off on this, the Starcorp Senate won’t agree to it. And it’s the starcorps that are going to have to do the work to make this happen.”

“Sure, they will,” Frank disputed without hesitation. “What is the one resource that all the starcorps are most in need of?”

“Workers,” Abel answered with a questioning look and a shrug.

“And Earth has 10-billion people on it,” Frank insisted from behind an amazed expression.

Abel took a pause to consider this point, and then his mind went to a thought that had him shaking his head.

“But the Senate won’t want to get on the bad side of the UEF,” Abel disagreed softly.

“We’re already on their bad side,” Frank challenged with vehemence. “This could make things better.”

Abel knew that Frank was referring to the intelligence report that said the UEF had classified the starcorps as criminal organizations. This was information gathered from their monitoring of Sol System transmissions. Abel believed, along with most people within the starcorps, that this was just sour grapes from an old foe. Most people thought it unlikely that a UEF with a star-drive would engage in a war with the starcorps across a wide collection of neighboring star systems. But this belief did not stop the starcorps from keeping an eye on the Sol System and watching and listening for evidence of a UEF star-drive or signs of a military build-up. If the Sol System did start gearing up for war, the agreed upon response by the Starcorp Senate was to move further out from Sol and disappear into the cosmos.

“Okay, okay, I'll have it for you in a couple of hours,” Abel promised with an intonation of resignation.

Frank disconnected the videophone call between him and Abel Cobb, and in doing so, he freed his mind to entertain schemes and possibilities. He spent the remainder of the day and half the night playing out scenarios in his mind. He weighed these scenarios against each other and looked for ways to link them into larger possibilities. Subconsciously, he was developing the sales pitch he would use to sway his would-be participants in the deal. This was normal behavior for Frank when working a business deal. His mind became obsessed with whatever plan he was working, and all other thoughts and commitments were pushed far off to the side.

It was 8AM when Frank left his apartment. The shuttle craft flight that took him from the Starship Berlin to the Starship Gibraltar lasted 20 minutes. It was 8:59AM the next day when Frank arrived outside the door of the suite where the three Earth Resistance Representatives were staying. He hesitated there to check the time and compose himself, and then he rang the doorbell. A tall man opened the door a couple of seconds after his ring. Frank judged him to be between six-feet-two to six-feet-three inches tall. He immediately noticed that he was stern and impatient. The man identified himself as Elijah Cromwell of the Tellurian Resistance Fighters Army. He ushered Frank into the main room of the suite. Phillip Hecht of the Rebel Warriors Army and Lee Miyoshi of the Free Earth Legion were waiting for him there. They introduced themselves and then settled him into a chair opposite the three of them.

“Okay, Mr. Weaver, how do you plan to help us?” Elijah questioned bluntly.

Frank was not surprised by the question. It was his promise of help in his phone call that got him this meeting. The abruptness of the question had no effect on him either. It enabled him to do exactly what he was eager to do; go right into his spiel. Over the next hour, Frank explained why no starcorp would help them and why they needed to make a business deal with him. He explained how the deal would work and why the starcorps would honor it. He gave them his assurance that he could put together a war-machine powerful enough to oust the UEF from power. He outlined the terms of the agreement and the price Earth would have to pay upon the successful completion of his plan.

“The Earth is not a starcorp,” Elijah insisted in a stern voice. “We will not become what you are.”

“What you call yourselves will be totally up to you,” Frank countered in hurried speech. “But you will have to abide by the terms of the contract.”

“I don't understand this,” Phillip acknowledged from behind a look of confusion. “Earth is, or was, a collection of more than one-hundred independent states. We can't speak for all of these nation states.”

“Yes, you can,” Frank insisted back. “Your resistance movements can make claim to the entire star system. Sol would be yours.”

“No, it would be yours,” Elijah argued with a flag of his hands.

“Earth would mine and develop the resources of the system. I and my investors would simply be shareholders.”

“Large shareholders, and your war machine would be the police, referee and the only military presence in Sol System Space,” Elijah disputed.

“For a time, yes,” Frank responded defensively.

“Fifty years,” Lee filled in with a frown.

“We will be making a very large investment,” Frank defended with a hint of insistence. “And as a member of the starcorp community, you would have access to everything we have to offer.”

“But all of this would be contingent upon the Starcorp Senate taking us into the community?” Phillip queried with a dubious fling of his hands.

“Leave that to me,” Frank returned with a confident nod.

“You can convince the starcorps to honor a claim of ownership of the Earth by our resistance movements?” Lee challenged with an intonation of skepticism.

“Yes, I can,” Frank answered with a look that said he was extremely excited about this plan. “Blood and death are the ultimate investments. No one has more rights than the bleeders. The starcorp courts WILL recognize your claim. I know it.”

Frank believed that the argument of ownership by right of an investment in blood would carry significant weight within the Starcorp Senate and courts. But he was counting on the promise of access to Earth’s vast labor force to make his deal irresistible to the starcorps. In Frank's mind this was a win-win for the starcorps and Earth. And best of all, it represented a big win for him. Frank could see commerce between the starcorps and the Sol System producing huge dividends for all. In Frank's mind it was the perfect deal.

The three resistance representatives were not envisioning Frank's plan as a perfect deal. The idea of the Earth being turned into a collection of starcorps was antithetical to their wishes. In their minds starcorps continued to be aberrations. Turning the nation states of Earth into commercial entities that could be bought and sold or could go into bankruptcy was not the kind of help they were looking for. The biggest problem they had with this idea was the divvying of the states into shares owned by its populace and that they could be acquired by other starcorps. This was the dread of all devout nationalists. They knew there was nothing that could transform a culture faster than a people who could bankrupt the country by moving with their shares to another state. In their minds this was a threat to the beliefs, traditions, preconceptions and norms that they held dear. They knew that nation states would need to change to suit the wishes of the majority or have their economies fall behind rival states that did make these changes. This was the mechanism that turned starcorps into societies with a high tolerance for social diversity. It was the basic premise of their existence; people will follow what works.

“What if our leaders say no?” Elijah questioned in a gruff voice.

“Then I can't help you,” Frank answered with a flat delivery.

There was a moment of silence in response to this answer, and then Phillip Hecht pleaded out the question that popped into his mind.

“Why can’t we just pay you a set price in installments?”

“I need investors,” Frank spoke with insistence. “They're going to want assurances that they will be paid. That's never going to work.”

“This is not going to work,” Elijah counter argued. “You're talking about turning Earth into a starcorp cesspool. This is never going to happen.”

“This is the only way that it can happen,” Frank verbally retaliated with a stern look toward Elijah.

Over the next half-hour the three resistance representatives tried to negotiate Frank away from the idea of transitioning Earth into a collection of starcorps. Frank held on to this demand despite this effort. He explained that he needed Earth inside the financial system of the starcorp community. He advised them that investors would never trust the Earth Republics to pay them. This was partially true, but the primary reason why he wanted the Earth to become a member of starcorp community was because of its immense population. Access to the more than 10 billion people of Earth was something he could use to influence the Starcorp Senate into green lighting his business plan.

The entire sales pitch came to a stop in just under two hours. The three resistance representatives agreed to take his proposal and the contract back to their leaders in the Sol System. They promised to get back to Frank with an answer in 3 to 6 months, but they were doubtful that a decision would come back in his favor. Frank left the suite hopeful and excited.

Frank was inside the shuttle craft that was taking him back to Starship Berlin when his computer-wand began vibrating about his wrist. This told him that someone was calling in. He chose not to activate the speakerphone with a touch of his finger and the voice command, “cellphone.” Instead, he unwound the wand off his wrist and positioned one end of it by his right ear and the other end in front of his mouth. This configuration made a semi-private phone call possible.

“Computer, connect phone call. Enter.”

“You son of a bitch. Where the hell are you.”

Frank instantly recognized Charlotte Lang’s voice coming out of his computer-wand despite its strident tenor. An instant after hearing her question, he realized why she was so angry. He missed the date he had scheduled with her for this morning. He was surprised and shocked by the realization that he had forgotten about the rendezvous he had planned for this morning with Charlotte.

“Oh, Baby, I-I,” Frank fumbled out at a level a little above a whisper.

Frank did not want his conversation with Charlotte overheard by all inside the shuttle craft.

“Don't you baby me,” Charlotte interrupted angrily. “Where the hell are you?”

The activity that was happening in Frank's mind at this moment was a frantic search for verbiage that might get him out of this situation. He knew that Charlotte was angry. He could hear it in her voice. It was the extent of her anger that worried him. Frank had experience Charlotte's temper many times in the past. This was not the first time he missed a rendezvous with her because of a sudden fixation with a business deal. He suspected that she would push their next rendezvous far off into the future. This was the standard punishment from Charlotte. The objective for Frank now was to minimize that distance into the future.

“I got sidetracked by a deal,” Frank pleaded. “You know me.”

“Why didn't you call?” Charlotte questioned in a commanding voice. “I rearranged my day just so I could be here for you, you son-of-a-bitch.”

“I'll make it up to you, Baby-Charlotte,” Frank misspoke and corrected. “I promise. I've got this great deal going.”

“I don't want to hear about your deals, Frank,” Charlotte nearly screamed through the phone connection.

“Aw, come on, Charlotte,” Frank quickly breathed into his computer-wand. “It was an accident. I'll make it up to you tomorrow.”

The idea that they meet tomorrow was a hopeful suggestion from Frank and not a serious expectation.

“I'm not seeing you tomorrow,” Charlotte returned with an intonation of disbelief. “I don't want to hear from you for at least a month.”

“A month?” Frank questioned with a fake inflection of shock. “I'm telling you it was an accident. I'm working this really big deal. I got lost in the details. You know how I am when I'm working.”

“Yeah, well as far as I'm concerned, you can stay lost,” Charlotte retorted in a speech laced with sarcasm.

An instant after Charlotte said these words, the phone call disconnected.

“Charlotte? Baby? Hello.”


	5. Contracts

Charlotte Lang had a busy life. On top of juggling four SCU’s (Social Contract Union), she took courses in Finance. She was a perpetual dance academy student; she was a long-time member of a six-time top ten volleyball team; she danced professionally when the mood struck her; and when her schedule permitted, she socialized with her friends. Daiquiri’s is one of several locations they used for these social gatherings, and it was the location they chose on the day that Charlotte got stood up by Frank.

“Why are you contracted to this guy anyway?” Teresa questioned from behind a look of dismay.

Teresa Spencer was Charlotte's longest friend seated at the table with her. The three additional ladies seated there were Lindsay McKenna, Catherine Tagawa and Jenny Morales. They appeared to be in their mid to late twenties but were 2 to 5 decades older, and they were all attractive.

“He’s a paying SCU,” Charlotte answered defensively.

“He’s a drain on your time,” Teresa argued back gently. “You’ve got three high paying consorts that you must care for. Giving time to Frank could cost you one or more of them.”

“Teresa is right,” Catherine supported. “You’re letting Frank jeopardize your income stream.”

Lindsay supported Teresa and Catherine with a nod of her head and a quick, “that’s right.”

“I take care of my SCUs,” Charlotte spoke in an irresolute tone.

Charlotte understood what they were saying and had given thought to the same argument many times. Her mind told her that Teresa, Lindsay and Catherine were talking from a position of dispassion, and that she was not. Canceling a contract was something that Charlotte was loathed to do because of money. Men had canceled their contracts with her because of money several times in the past, and she endured this with indifference. On two occasions she canceled a contract because of interpersonal differences. Or easier said, she discovered she did not like the guy. But tossing away someone she did like and who was eager to be with her felt like a callous and malicious act to Charlotte. And this was doubly true when it came to Frank.

“Yeah, but in the past, you limited yourself to three SCUs,” Teresa offered as a counter argument to Charlotte's claim of taking care of her consorts. “Now you have four, counting that fire-sale contract you made with Frank.”

“I like Frank, okay. He makes me laugh,” Charlotte scolded back at her friend. 

Teresa shook her head and rolled her eyes before responding with disbelief in her voice. 

“I don’t understand you. You could be making so much more money.”

“My SCUs pay generously,” Charlotte disputed without hesitation.

“Yeah, but you could make so much more if you dropped your price by a third and start juggling 8 to 10 SCU’s,” Teresa insisted.

This was an old debate, and Charlotte was quick to dismiss Teresa’s side of it with a shake of her head, a flag of her hand and a verbal response.

“You know I don’t do volume. It would be hard enough to remember their names let alone give them the attention they want.”

“Who cares about their names,” Teresa challenged with animated amazement. “Tease them and please them and collect the money. That’s what I do.”

“That’s you, Teresa,” Charlotte responded with a hint of annoyance in her tone. “I can’t work that way.”

Teresa picked up on the signal that Charlotte was not going to change and settled back into her chair to speak her final thought on the subject with a passive delivery.

“Charlotte, I know you think you need to feel some affection for your SCUs, but you must get past that. They’re just income.”

“Well, they’re more than just income to me,” Charlotte confessed in a voice that implied that She tired of the debate.

A silence fell over the table for several seconds, and Jenny spoke up with an amazed inflection.

“Wow! I didn’t know there was more than one way to be a paid consort.”

Jenny was the youngest person at the table, and she was the only person there who was not a consort by profession. But this was the profession that she was hoping to transition into with this outing. Being with men was nothing new for her. Jenny was 57 years of age and had been in 3 traditional contract unions or TCUs over the course of her life. Her plan for today was to take on a social contract union for a fee that her consort would pay to her. After working 25 years as a Lab Technician, Jenny was ready for something new.

“Well there is, Sweetie,” Teresa retorted to Jenny’s observation. “You need to decide right now. Do you want to make a living, or do you want to make money?”

Catherine, Lindsay and Charlotte could not prevent themselves from giggling in response to Teresa’s mercenary attitude. Lindsay was the first to recover from her chuckle and voice a second opinion.

“Baby, you need to take it slow and follow your instincts,” Catherine asserted with a sly smirk at Teresa.

“Yeah,” Charlotte spoke up with a grin in her throat. “Because if you listen to Teresa, you'll need an AI secretary to keep track of your consorts.”

A brief eruption of laughter came out from all but Teresa. She endured the humor at her expense from behind a smirk and then responded to it with an intonation of sass.

“What's wrong with that.”

Again, there was laughter from around the table. This time Teresa joined in on the mirth and the guffaw lasted for several seconds. While this was occurring, Jenny took notice of a man who appeared to be looking at her.

“Who's that?” Jenny questioned as the laughter trailed off.

The group looked across the lounge floor in the direction that Jenny was indicating. The four of them focused in on a decidedly attractive man ogling Jenny from his stance at the bar.

“That's Eric,” Lindsay answered with indifference. “He's okay.”

“So, you've done a contract with him?” Jenny questioned with an inflection of curiosity.

“No, but Sarah did,” Lindsay returned casually. “She liked him.”

Jenny paused to look for a response from someone else. Charlotte, Christine and Teresa were noncommittal as they deferred to each other to respond.

“So, none of you have done a contract with him?” Jenny questioned with a slight look of worry.

The first responses to Jenny’s inquiry were all shrugs and head shakes, and then Teresa spoke up to give meaning to these gestures.

“I mean he asked. I think he propositioned all of us at one time or another. But when he asked me, my plate was full.”

“Really?” Charlotte questioned with a feigned expression of shock.

“Hey, I do have my limits,” Teresa insisted defensively. “Besides, he doesn’t make a lot of money. And unlike you, I don’t take on contracts from men who can’t pay the price of admission.”

This remark incited laughter from the others. Teresa retaliated to their chortles at her expense with a mocking sneer.

“Hey, he’s a good starter SCU,” Lindsay spoke up enthusiastically. “You should take him on if you’re interested.”

“What makes him a good starter SCU?” Jenny questioned back with a look of curiosity.

“Well, for one, I doubt he can afford more than one consort out of this lounge,” Lindsay answered with a shrug. “So, if he’s looking, then he probably will meet your price. Secondly, I hear he’s over 100 years old, and that he goes through 3 or 4 consorts a year. So, he’s not going to fall in love with you, and he’ll probably quit the contract after a few months. That should make him a good test run consort. And if you find out you don’t like him, then just start telling him you have a headache and he’ll quit the contract even sooner, and he pays the penalty.”

“Oh! Okay,” Jenny acknowledged with a look of understanding. “So, should I approach him?”

“No,” Charlotte, Catherine, Lindsay and Teresa said quickly and in unison.

“Wait for him to come to you,” Catherine instructed with a ruffle of her brow.

This advice worried Jenny and she turned to Catherine with an expression of surprise and a question.

“But what if he doesn’t make the first move?”

“He already has,” Catherine asserted. “He’s looking at you. He wants you to come to him.”

“I don’t understand,” Jenny returned with a confused shake of her head.

“You see, this is the way it works,” Teresa interjected with a hint of exasperation. “He’s going to try to haggle your price down, no matter what price you quote. When he finds out you don’t have a social contract already, he’s going to think you’re desperate and haggle even harder.”

“And trust me, there’s nothing more nauseating than a guy professing his adoration for you while haggling over money,” Lindsay proffered with an expression that was halfway between a scowl and a grin.

“So, the last thing you want to do is approach him,” Catherine lectured with a firm intonation. “You always want to project the image that it’s a seller’s market.”

Jenny took a moment to assimilate everything that she had been told, and then she blurted out the question that came to mind.

“So, should I lower my price if he haggles?”

“This is what I would do,” Teresa began again. “You have your price. I would increase it by half and negotiate down from there. Then I would give him 15 minutes to get to within 85% of my price. And if he didn’t, I would walk away.”

“And don’t look back,” Lindsay insisted in a hurry.

“Never look back,” Catherine supported a second behind.

Jenny took a moment to fortify herself with all that she had just learned. After several deep breathes, she looked to Charlotte with a mix of hope and confusion in her expression.

“Is that the way you would do it?” Jenny queried with a pleading countenance.

Charlotte understood that Jenny was looking for her support for this tact, and she had no disagreement with it. But she also knew that it was not the way she would do it. This had nothing to do with an objection for anything the others had said. It was a personal preference. Charlotte did not approach the position of paid consort as a job or a hustle. For her it was just a convenient means to an end. She also knew that most women could not make a living while being as picky as she. Charlotte knew that she was well endowed physically and aesthetically. This thinking created a conflict within her. Charlotte did not believe that Jenny could attract the same high-end consorts as she. And she knew that Jenny was turning to this profession for the money. In the end, she settled this conflict within her by confessing to Jenny how she would do it.

“I never quote a price, and I never haggle over money. I wait for the guy to make me an offer. If I like it, I say yes. If I don’t like it, I say no, and then he has about five seconds to make a better offer.”

“Why five seconds?” Jenny questioned out of curiosity.

“I’m usually out of earshot by then,” Charlotte answered with a shrug and a smile.

“Except, you didn’t do it that way with Frank,” Teresa scoffed with a laugh.

Charlotte took a moment to brook the truth of this remark before speaking.

“Every time I tried to walk away from Frank, he followed me,” Charlotte confessed with near to a grin on her face.

Eric Booth chose this moment to interrupt the revelry occurring between Charlotte and her friends. He interjected himself into their company with an awkward attempt at being funny and appealing and was pleasantly greeted in return. A minute into this charmed offensive, Eric focused his attention onto Jenny and soon invited her onto the dance floor. This was a common question asked by suitors and it usually involved very little dancing. Eric used their time together on the dance floor to sell himself.

Charlotte and her friends watched this social market courtship from afar, but this was nothing new for them. Clubs, lounges and bars were the unofficial meeting halls for social marketing participants. The process that Jenny was going through was virtually identical to thousands of previous social market courtships that occurred inside Daiquiri’s. Fifteen minutes into the dance, Eric transitioned the courtship into the negotiation stage. This event was marked by their retreat to a private table. Ten minutes later, the courtship transitioned into the licensing stage. This was marked by the summoning of an in-house social market lawyer.

Social market lawyers were common inside nightclubs and lounges. They identified themselves with name tags that were complete with their credentials. For bottom of the rung lawyers, nightclubs and lounges were the places to be for collecting quick and easy money. For a set fee, they did the paperwork and the filing of social contracts. Participation in the negotiation required an additional fee and a second lawyer so that both sides were represented. This was an option that was rarely used. Most participants in Social Marketing were well versed on the variables of social contracts. The filing was always done electronically a few seconds after the signing. And the contract went into effect in the same moment.

It took another ten minutes to complete the agreement and file the documents. Jenny came back to Charlotte and friends and verified that she had her first SCU. She relayed to them the particulars of the contract that she signed, then said her good-byes for the evening and left with Eric to commemorate the contract signing.

Commemorate the contract signing was social marketing-ease for having sex. There was no legal obligation involved in this act. The phrase, commemorate the contract signing, was born out of humor. Because Social Contracts intentionally avoided verbiage that stated or implied that any party of the contract was required to engage in sex with any other party of the contract, standard protections were built into the contracts to encourage fidelity to the unwritten expectation that they will engage in sex. One of these protections was the premature exit penalty. What this did was impose a financial penalty on the payer in the contract if he or she discontinued the contract shortly into its start. This early exit time varied between several days to several weeks. The penalty attached to an early exit was a significant sum of money attached to the severance payout. The premature exit clause was put into the contracts to discourage payers from using a payee for a one-night stand and then ditching her or him early on to save money. But this penalty by itself put the payer in the position of having to pay without a guarantee that the unwritten expectation would be provided. Because of this concern a buyer’s remorse clause was standard in all contracts. This clause gave the payer the right to opt out of a social contract within a set period without fee or penalty. Normally, this time limit was just long enough to commemorate the signing of the contract, 1 to 2 hours was the norm. When the commemoration was over, the reputations of the parties involved became the instigator for keeping fidelity with the unwritten expectation within the agreement. It was the right of all participants to lodge complaints with the Social Market Administration that the public could read.

“Hi, I'm sorry,” Frank quickly spoke.

Jenny was several minutes into her courtship dance with Eric when Frank showed up at Charlotte’s table. Charlotte, Teresa, Catherine and Lindsay were surprised by his sudden appearance.

“Oh, look who's here,” Teresa spoke in a mocking tone of voice.

“Can we talk?” Frank questioned with a focus on Charlotte.

“No, Frank,” Charlotte insisted with admonishment in her voice. “I don't want to see you right now.”

Catherine and Lindsay snickered in response to Charlotte's reply.

“It was a mistake,” Frank pleaded. “I got caught up in a business deal.”

“And you couldn't call?” Charlotte challenged with a scowl.

“It was a really big deal,” Frank continued to plead. “You know I wouldn't have forgotten our tryst if it wasn't big.”

“You're not helping yourself,” Charlotte returned with a glower as she showed Frank the back of her head.

“Baby…”

Charlotte turned about an instant after hearing the word baby. The quick turn and the angry grimace on her face cut Frank off in mid speech.

“Don't baby me, Frank,” Charlotte reprimanded sharply. “I don't want to hear from you right now.”

Teresa, Catherine and Lindsay restrained their urges to laugh as they turned their heads away from this conversation. Frank inched back, took a breath and prepared himself to take a softer approach.

“Charlotte, let me make it up to you,” Frank suggested in a voice decidedly below his normal volume.

Charlotte turned toward Frank with the mix of a smile and a hopeful expression on her face. This sudden bright demeanor gave Frank encouragement. An instant after seeing it, Charlotte began to speak in a tone that was reflective of this pleasing look.

“Oh, you want to add some money to our contract?”

Frank was taken aback by this suggestion. A startled look came across his face as he quickly responded in fumbling speech.

“Uh… That's not what I meant.”

The instant she heard Frank's reply, Charlotte's hopeful expression dropped away and was replaced with a look of anger. 

“Go away, Frank,” Charlotte grumbled as she looked away.

Frank held his position, took a breath and then spoke in a soft voice loaded with a hopeful inflection.

“When can I see you again?”

“Try me in a month,” Charlotte snapped back at Frank.

“You don't mean that,” Frank gently insisted with a smile and a shake of his head.

“Try me,” Charlotte snarled with a glare out the corner of her eyes.

Frank gave Charlotte a moment of study and then whispered out his final thought as he began moving away.

“I'll call you tomorrow.”

“Go!” Charlotte roared with finality.

_~~~~~Line Break~~~~~_

Frank had been inside Daiquiri’s for less than a minute when he found Charlotte with his eyes and raced over to the table where she and her friends were sitting. He had been alerted that Charlotte was there in a phone call from his friend, Paul Hildebrandt. When Frank finished his brief chat with Charlotte, he went to the table where his friend was seated with Bill Burke and James Farnsworth.

“What was that about?” Bill questioned from behind a confused expression.

“Oh, it's nothing,” Frank spoke dismissively.

Frank began pecking his drink order into the tabletop immediately after taking his seat at the table.

“It can't be nothing,” Paul disputed in a passive tone of voice. “I mentioned Charlotte's name in passing and you came running.”

“I forgot about our tryst,” Frank confessed with a slight shake of his head.

“How did you do that?” James questioned with a look of amazement.

Frank took a moment to dismiss the obvious criticism at his stupidity with a smile and a shake of his head. He then began speaking his defense for his memory lapse.

“I got sidetracked,” Frank explained with a palm up flag of his hands.

“With what?” Bill blurted out with a feigned look of shock.

Amused by Bill's delivery, Frank hesitated to respond to this question. Paul began to fill in the silence with an inflection in his voice that said he suspected what the answer to his query would be.

“You didn't meet with those Earthers?”

“I did,” Frank acknowledged with a nod.

Paul reacted to this answer with a smile and a shake of his head. James was far more surprised by this answer and reflected this in his voice.

“You're really going to try and do that?”

“It's a good deal,” Frank defended.

“It's a fairytale,” Paul countered from behind a look of disbelief.

“What deal?” Bill questioned with a bemused look.

Bill was not present when Frank floated the idea of pitching a deal to the three Earth Resistance Representatives to Paul, James and Ron.

“Frank wants to build a war-machine for those Earth Resistance Groups,” James explained succinctly.

Bill took a moment to weigh this idea in his thoughts. Frank, Paul and James waited on him to catch up to where they were.

“Where are you going to get the money?” Bill questioned while stifling a laugh.

“I don't need to have the money personally,” Frank explained in a casual voice. “What I need is a signed contract.”

“You're going to try and sell shares in your war-machine?” Paul questioned with an intonation that said he had a dawning awareness.

Frank noted his friends new understanding and commenced his response with a flair of confidence.

“You know me, Paul. I can sell anything.”

“So, did they sign the contract?” James questioned with curiosity in his voice.

“We'll see,” Frank answered with a shrug.

Frank knew better than everyone there that he might as well be gambling on the outcome of the spin of a roulette wheel. He saw the demeanor and the faces of the three resistance representatives when he left. He knew that they were loathing to see the return of a starcorp presence in the Sol System. He was doubtful that the three resistance representatives would return let alone come back with signed contracts. When asked, Frank did not betray his doubt about the probability of this business proposal going forward. What he did begin to speak about was the process that needed to be completed.

“They have the contract, and they're on their way back to the Sol System to have their leaders consider it.”

“How long is that going to take?” James wondered out loud.

“A few months they said,” Frank answered blandly.

“How does that work?” Paul questioned with a frown that said he was curious about the process.

Frank took the next few minutes to explain to his friends how the resistance representatives planned to enter the Sol System aboard one of FFL02's spy ships, transmit coded messages to their respective organizations, wait for replies and then come back to the starcorps with the spy ship. Outwardly, he displayed a look of optimism as he told them this plan, but inside he was doubtful that this event would happen as he just outlined.

“Do you really think they're going to sign your contract?” Paul asked in straightforward speech.

Frank gave the question a second of thought, and then he began his response with a casual delivery.

“All I can do is wait.”


	6. All but One

The three Earth Resistance Representatives were a little surprised by FFL02’s Board of Directors decision to let them ride along, round trip, in one of their reconnaissance spaceship voyages to the Sol System Space. The FFL02 Board of Directors did promise to take them back to Sol System Space. They did this because it was they who took them from the Sol System. But the Earth Resistance Representatives had no reason to expect that they would bring them back to the Alpha Centauri System for a second time. They had this worry despite Frank Weaver’s assurance that FFL02 would honor the vouchers they accumulated and the unsigned starcorp contract they had in their possession.

“You have a legitimate business proposition to negotiate with the starcorps,” Frank assured. “They won't refuse you.”

If the FFL02 Board of Directors had not approved their request to communicate with their superiors on Earth the resistance representatives would have had no recourse but to put Frank Weaver’s business proposal on hold and go back to soliciting starcorps for help using the vouchers still had in their possession. Elijah Cromwell, Phillip Hecht and Lee Miyoshi came to this decision before they made their request for a round trip ride to and from the Sol System. They were doubtful that the leaders of their respective resistance movements would sign off on Frank Weaver’s business proposal. The only reason why they were presenting it to them was because it was the only positive result they had. Their past efforts to convince a starcorp to come to their assistance produced nothing, and they had no reason to believe their future efforts would do better. It was concluded that this communication with their leaders had the potential for being the least wasteful use of their time.

Their travel time to Starcorp FFL02 took seven weeks in real time. It took another week for the FFL02 Board of Directors to decide on their request for a round trip passage to the Sol System aboard one of their reconnaissance spaceships. An additional three weeks went by waiting for the next Sol System reconnaissance spaceship to depart.

There was no sneaking into Sol System Space across the threshold between null time and real time. The energy signature created by a star-drive’s reentry into real time was too distinctive and too easy to detect by a spacecraft within 1 AU ( _Astronomical Unit_ ) of the event, and it was detectable by sensors on any spaceship within 17 AUs of the event. On top of this, the Spaceship Aurora's arrival to the Sol System was not unexpected. UEF sensors and spacecrafts had been detecting arrivals and departures of starcorp reconnaissance spaceships every three months, on average, and tracking their movements while they were in the system. This was the best they could do given the immense size of the star system and the unpredictable points of entrance of the starcorp spaceships. Pursuing the starcorp spaceships was equally futile because of their star-drives. The UEF spaceships had no comparable propulsion system. It was easily within the capability of a starcorp reconnaissance spaceship to jump to the far side of the star system in 1-millionth of the time it would take a UEF Spaceship to travel there. For the UEF and the starcorp reconnaissance spaceships this was nothing more than a staring contest.

Within hours of the Aurora's arrival to the Sol System the three resistance movement representatives transmitted encrypted messages to Earth. This was a contingency that was put in place before they left Earth to make contact with the starcorps. The Tellurian Resistance Fighters, the Rebel Warriors Army and the Free Earth Legion were equipped to decipher this encryption. Included with the messages were copies of Frank Weaver's contract. The intention here was to give the leaders of these resistance movements the option of attaching their electronic signatures to the contracts and transmitting the signed contracts back to the Aurora or declining the business proposal in a return message. Once these messages were sent, Elijah, Phillip and Lee could do nothing more than wait for the reply.

The Aurora was scheduled to complete a three-month stint in the outer half of the Sol Star System. It’s sole purpose for being there was to record electronic transmissions coming from the interior of the system. The spaceship orbited Sol at a distance between Saturn and Uranus. This was far from industries and habitats in the system, and this separation provided the Aurora with more than enough time to elude any spaceship coming from those areas. Depending upon where a UEF spaceship was, it could take several weeks to more than a month for it to push itself out to where the Aurora was, even at maximum thrust. However, it was close enough for a transmission to reach Earth in little more than three hours. This speed of communication and their three months loiter in the system gave the three resistance representatives cause to believe that a reply to their message would come in short order. But this was not what happened.

Weeks began to stack up as the three resistance representatives aboard the Aurora waited for the encrypted reply to the message they sent out. During this time the Aurora collected dozens of messages sent from Earth demanding that the ship’s Captain surrender the resistance representatives to UEF custody. This request was of little surprise to the occupants of the Aurora and increasingly less so as they continued. It was expected that the transmission from the Aurora toward Earth would be captured by the UEF. And it was expected that they would assume it originated from the resistance fighters that a previous starcorp spaceship collected from their star system two years earlier. Without the encryption key, it was expected that the contents of that message would be beyond them to read any time soon. The communications from the UEF made it clear that this time had not arrived.

It was clear in the messages sent by the UEF to the Aurora that they were assuming that one or more of the resistance forces on Earth were soliciting the starcorps for help. The UEF transmitted numerous arguments that contended that these resistance movements were criminal organizations, and they maintained that the starcorps were duty bound to surrender their representatives to them. Mixed in with these messages were warnings that any attempt by the starcorps to interfere with the UEF’s governance of the Sol System would be considered by them an act of war. The Aurora gave no replies to these messages.

The Aurora was 18 hours away from the end of its tour in the Sol System when the first resistance movement encrypted message came in from Earth. Using the key provided by the three resistance representatives, the Aurora computer decrypted the message as it came in. The communication was addressed to Lee Miyoshi. Inside the message was a digitally signed copy of Frank Weaver's contract. Lee verified the signature and then read the attached message.

_You are authorized to act on my behalf to bring this agreement to fruition and with haste. You are free to pursue the implementation of this venture in concert with Representatives of the Rebel Warriors Army and the Tellurian Resistance Fighters or on your own. This agreement must go forward._

_Purple Dragon_

_Free Earth Legion Supreme Commander in Chief_

The second resistance movement message reached the Aurora 384 minutes behind the first message. This message was addressed to Phillip Hecht. It also had a digitally signed copy of Frank Weaver's contract and a message.

_Do all that you can to make this agreement happen with or without the assistance of the Free Earth Legion and the Tellurian Resistance Fighters. We need the help of the starcorps as soon as possible._

_Iron Wolf_

_Rebel Warriors Army Supreme Leader_

Elijah Cromwell waited for an additional 7 hours for his return message from Earth. The long wait for its arrival had him, Lee and Phillip concerned that there would be no message. When it did arrive, there was no digitally signed copy of Frank Weaver's contract inside, but there was a message.

_You are, under no circumstances, permitted to participate, assist, exchange information or cooperate in any way with the implementation of this agreement. We do not support any agreement that gives the starcorps license to reestablish a presence within the Sol System for any length of time. You are free to negotiate for a deal that precludes the starcorps from reestablishing a fixed presence in the Sol System. You do not have permission to give support of any kind to this agreement._

_Red Rabbit_

_Tellurian Resistance Fighters Commander in Chief_

The response from the leader of the Tellurian Resistance Fighters did not surprise any of the three Earth Resistance Representatives. In fact, they were surprised that the other two resistance leaders did not say the same. The resistance representatives understood from the beginning that their goal was to secure military assistance from the starcorps that was exempt from any obligation to pay for their services. From the perspective of Sol System inhabitants, the starcorps were military superpowers. The overwhelming majority of Earthers believed that the star-drive made the starcorps invincible. The resistance representatives were instructed to prevail upon the starcorp’s kinship with Earthers and impress upon them a feeling of obligation. In exchange for their services the representatives were given permission to tell the starcorps that all past claims and grievances directed at the starcorps would be forgiven. Inviting the starcorps to resettle in the Sol System was the one thing they were specifically forbidden to do.

The plan that Frank Weaver proffered in his contract precluded the return of starcorps to the Sol System, but it did outline a prolonged presence of an offshoot of the WDF02. After the defeat of the UEF, the function of this offshoot in the star system would be to manage Earth’s space force. This work would be performed by Sol System inhabitants for all lower management jobs and down, and with funds supplied by the new Sol System democratic government. In addition to managing Earth’s space force, WDF02 would be the exclusive import/export agency between the Sol System and the starcorps and with unrestricted access to all markets. This access extended to Earth’s workforce. WDF02 would be free to recruit Earthers for immigration into a starcorp. The contract further explained that they would remain in this position until the expiration of their contract with the new Sol System government. The expiration date requested was 100 years in the future. The promise that they would leave after this time was backed by the proclaimed integrity of the starcorp community judicial system. Adherence to contractual agreements was important to the starcorps, and this fidelity was well known on Earth. Business contracts was the life blood of the starcorp community. The starcorps could not function as trading partners if contracts were not held sacrosanct. By law, starcorps were obliged to discontinue doing business with any starcorp that willfully reneged on a contract. What gave the Earthers cause to worry was the fact that Earth was not a starcorp. This distinction endorsed fears that they could end up under the dominion of the starcorps, once again. It also gave the resistance representatives cause to believe their leaders would not accept this agreement.

“What do we do?”

Lee Miyoshi’s question was predicated on the belief that the Starcorp Senate would disavow the contract if it was not signed by the leaders of all three Earth Resistance Movements. Frank Weaver stressed this to Lee and his associates when he gave them the contract.

“We have two signed contracts,” Phillip insisted. “We proceed with the war-machine plan.”

Elijah was quick to challenge this thinking and did so forcefully.

“You can't do that without an agreement from the Tellurian Resistance.”

“We don't answer to the Tellurian Resistance,” Phillip argued back.

Phillip and Elijah squared off face to face as they prepared to debate their positions.

“This mission is a joint endeavor,” Elijah disputed. “You can't go forward with this without us.”

“If we don't go forward with the war-machine plan, then what do we do?” Lee interjected before Phillips could speak.

“We negotiate for a better plan,” Elijah returned with a stern expression.

Phillip was not swayed by anything he just heard. He scowled at both men as they spoke between them, and then he spoke.

“We have orders to proceed with this plan as is,” Phillip growled out at Lee Miyoshi in definitive speech. 

Lee took a moment to ponder this statement and to weigh his options with shifting glances between his associates. He knew that the time delay for messages sent to and from Earth made it impossible to communicate with their leaders again before the Aurora generated its time-jump bubble. This reality brought to Lee's mind a couple of options they might be able to utilize. One option was to ask the Captain of the Aurora to delay his departure. The second option was to request a transfer to the starcorp reconnaissance spaceship that recently entered the system. Both these options seemed drastic to Lee, and he was reluctant to mention either one. He was also loathed to waste time trying to implement a business deal that was likely to be blocked by the Starcorp Senate.

“I think we should ask for instructions on how to proceed if the Starcorp Senate blocks the agreement,” Lee tentatively tossed out for consideration.

“There's no time for that,” Phillip barked back. “The Aurora is leaving the system in less than five hours. And we are under orders to move forward on this agreement now.”

“If you do, you do it without my help,” Elijah countered Phillip from behind a steely stare.

Lee took a moment more to consider his position one last time and then responded with his decision.

“Okay, we act on what we've got.” 


	7. Wheel and Deal

The repeated soft chimes of the front doorbell had finally aggravated Charlotte to the point that she could not take it any longer. She uncurled from her fetal position and pulled the bed spread down from over her head as she rolled onto her back.

“Computer, who is at the front door? Return.” Charlotte growled out with a commanding inflection.

“Frank Weaver is at the front door,” the computer returned passively.

Charlotte growled her frustration with the report that Frank was the person ringing her front doorbell.

“Computer, connect me with the front door intercom. Enter.” Charlotte demanded with a scoff.

By positioning her request between the key words “Computer” and “Enter” the computer accepted the sentence as a command that needed to be comprehended and performed. This application was regularly used to interface with computers through speech alone. Key words were commonly used as command language identifiers and were interchangeable to meet the preference of the user.

“Front door intercom is activated,” the computer performed and acknowledged after interpreting Charlotte's command.

“Go away, Frank,” Charlotte yelled out.

“Charlotte, Baby, let me in,” Frank’s voice reverberated out through the speakers in Charlotte's bedroom. “There's something I have to tell you.”

“Send it to me in a video message, Frank,” Charlotte insisted. “I'm not letting you in. And if you keep ringing my bell, I'm going to call security.”

“This is big,” Frank insisted with excitement in his voice. “I need to tell it to you in person.”

“I don't care,” Charlotte hollered back. “Go away.”

“I'm leaving HL02,” Frank explained in haste. “My transport is prepping for launch right now.”

Charlotte paused to consider Frank's last remark. The idea of him leaving HL02 surprised her. This meant that he was leaving the star system and would be gone for more than a month and likely more than three. In Charlotte's mind, this amount of time apart suggested a significant change in their relationship was about to occur. She sat up in her bed to ponder this possibility. Shortly into her thinking Frank began to speak again.

“This is really big,” Frank announced with an abundance of zeal.

An instant after hearing this last remark, Charlotte began to climb out of bed.

“Wait,” Charlotte instructed Frank as she slipped on her nightgown.

A minute later, Charlotte was standing behind the front door to her apartment. With a touch of her finger to a video button in the control panel screen, the door transitioned into a video monitor from top to bottom. A full-size visage of Frank standing on the other side of the door was visible in the display. The opaque veneer was still in place on the opposite side of the door.

“What do you mean, you're leaving?” Charlotte questioned with a frown.

“I'm working a deal,” Frank exclaimed. “It's really big.”

“And you have to leave the system for that?” Charlotte challenged with a confused intonation.

“I can't talk about this through the door,” Frank insisted ecstatically. “Let me in.”

Charlotte took a moment to consider the request before pressing the video button in the control panel screen that actuated the motor that slid the door open. With the touch of a second video button, she turned off the intercom.

“I got it,” Frank exalted as he rushed through the doorway, grasped Charlotte into a bear hug, picked her up and twirled about excitedly.

“Put me down,” Charlotte commanded as she squirmed inside Frank's hug.

“Sorry, sorry,” Frank beseeched as he set Charlotte down and stepped back. “I got the contract.”

Charlotte took a moment to catch her breath, and then she began to speak.

“What contract?”

“Remember that deal I was talking about with those Earth Resistance Representatives?” Frank questioned with enthusiasm.

“That was months ago,” Charlotte spoke in a challenging tone.

“Nine months ago,” Frank corrected. “They're back and I got a signed contract from two of them,” he eagerly continued.

This announcement did nothing to clear away Charlotte's confusion. She continued to stare at Frank with a confused expression.

“They gave me the rights to fight for them,” Frank explained in clearly enunciated words.

Charlotte shook off her confusion and began speaking the question that Frank's report produced within her.

“What about Asteroid L259?”

Charlotte's question referred to the mining operation that Frank and his partners were carrying the bulk of the financing for. This project was the only business investment that Frank talked about during the past 6 months. This new business deal, that she was yet to understand, had her confused about what happened to L259. 

“I sold my shares,” Frank answered in a short burst of words. “This Sol System contract is the deal of my life.” 

“And what about our contract?” Charlotte questioned with a look of astonishment.

Frank’s demeanor soured in response to this question. He took a step back and took a second to search for the right response.

“Circumstances are going to make it impossible for me to continue with our contract,” Frank explained in a carefully spoken speech.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Frank,” Charlotte returned with a sigh.

A moment of silence passed between them. Charlotte could see that Frank had something more to say, but she was confused by his reluctance to say it straight away. Shortly into this quiet, Frank began to speak.

“I was wondering if you would be willing to terminate the contract,” Frank whispered out carefully.

“Oh no,” Charlotte immediately responded with a look of astonishment. “I’m not backing out of our contract.”

“Charlotte, the severance plus the penalty will cost me nearly a twentieth of my net worth,” Frank nearly pleaded.

“Too bad,” Charlotte countered in a defiant tone of voice. “I’m not taking a loss because you want to go chase some deal. You wanted this contract, and I lived up to every word of it. If you want out, then you pick up the tab.”

After a moment of thought, Frank resigned himself to the inevitable.

“Okay—okay,” Frank sighed back with reluctance in his voice. “But I’m coming back,” he continued with hope in his voice. “Can we start a new contract when I get back?”

Charlotte could not hide her confusion. She knew that interstellar distance was the death-knell of romantic relationships. She paused to consider what Frank had just asked her and then responded with a word and a nod.

“Okay.”

Shortly after hearing this, Frank lost control of his composure, lunged forward and took Charlotte by the shoulders as he began to speak again with a look of wide-eyed exhilaration.

“This is huge,” Frank gushed. “This could be the biggest business deal ever put together. And I own it.”

Frank pulled Charlotte forward into a hug and grinned as he spun around, lifting Charlotte off her feet as he did. Charlotte could not stop herself from being amused by Frank’s excitement and grinned despite her effort not to.

“Stop.” Charlotte complained halfheartedly.

Frank spun her around for a bit longer and then set her down gently.

“Sorry,” Frank apologized with a wide smile. “This is really big. I can’t believe it’s actually happening.”

“So, you’re leaving HL02?” Charlotte questioned with a hint of sadness in her voice.

“Oh, it’s just temporary,” Frank insisted excitedly and with a shake of his head. “Because it’s a deal involving the starcorps and Earth, I have to sell it to the Starcorp Senate.”

“You’re going to BX01?” Charlotte questioned with a partial look of amazement.

“Yeah,” Frank returned with an excited nod of his head. “Cobb is coming with me, but yeah. We’ll be gone for a few months, but this is big. This is really big. Once I sell this to the Starcorp Senate, I’m going to be rolling in money.”

Frank grasped Charlotte by the waste, pulled her torso up against his and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

“You wait and see,” Frank continued with elation. “This is going to be huge.”

Frank’s excitement had no effect on Charlotte. Her demeanor soured a small degree as she listened to Frank’s last remark. The prospect of Frank coming into a financial windfall made no impression with her. She was doubtful that this big deal would ever develop to the extent that he was suggesting. Big deals and big promises were not uncommon claims from the mouth of Frank Weaver. But the extent that Frank was reaching to make this deal happen engendered a whole new level of passion within him. She could see and hear that Frank was determined to pursue this deal above all other considerations. The idea that he was leaving to do something that might distract him from ever wanting to return HL02 was causing a sadness to well up within her.

“So, you’re leaving today?” Charlotte questioned hesitantly.

“Yeah, Baby,” Frank confirmed enthusiastically. “I just came by to tell you what was happening.”

Frank gave Charlotte a quick kiss on the forehead and then continued to speak.

“I didn’t want to put it in a message. I wanted to tell you in person. This is a chance of a lifetime. Aren’t you excited for me, just a little bit?”

Charlotte continued to look mildly depressed. She stepped forward half a step and began to speak a question in a soft voice.

“You’re leaving now?”

“Ah, yeah,” Frank fumbled out with a mild look of confusion. “The Cepheus is scheduled to launch in a few hours and my bags are going onboard as we speak.”

“So, you’re going now?” Charlotte asked just before giving Frank a soft kiss on the lips.

“Yeah, I should be leaving for the ship,” Frank acknowledged hesitantly.

Charlotte responded to this report with a second kiss on the lips. When they parted, she kept her face positioned 2 inches from Frank’s and maintained a longing stare into his eyes.

“I guess I do have a little time to spare,” Frank assessed out loud.

Charlotte commenced to give Frank another soft kiss. A couple of seconds into this, Frank slipped his arms around Charlotte’s upper torso and pulled her into a passionate kiss. A moment later, Charlotte returned his passion by wrapping her arms around Frank’s neck and re-engaging with a second kiss. They stood there for nearly a minute, kissing. At the end of this time, Frank picked Charlotte up into his arms and carried her away to the bedroom. Frank arrived aboard the Cepheus 2 hours later and with only a few minutes to spare. As the spaceship moved away, Frank accessed HL02’s Public Records Database, canceled his social contract with Charlotte and paid the penalty.

_~~~~~Line Break~~~~~_

“Mr. Weaver why should the starcorps risk provoking the UEF?” Senator Zachary Hewitt questioned from behind a stern study of Frank.

“Senator Hewitt, our existence is a provocation to the UEF,” Frank retorted with a flippant inflection. “There's nothing we can do that's going to make that worst.”

Senator Bruce Barnett took immediate offense to this answer and commenced to speak his mind an instant behind.

“How can this not make things worse?” Senator Barnett snapped at Frank. “We are not at war with the UEF. Constructing a war machine to dislodge the UEF from power would significantly elevate the animosity between us and Earth.”

Frank was seated at the middle of a conference table along its broad side. Seated next to him was Abel Cobb. On the other side of the table was the 11 members of the Starcorp Senate Foreign Affairs Committee. Seated directly opposite of Frank was the Chairperson of the committee, Senator Zachary Hewitt.

“Senators,” Frank began in an apologetic tone. “What I meant to say is that the UEF doesn't have the means to wage war on the starcorps. The UEF’s antipathy for the starcorps is just wasted energy.”

“But this advantage won't last forever,” Senator Barnett disputed. “We’re already getting intelligence suggesting the UEF is trying to develop a star-drive.”

“And that's just another reason why this deal should go forward,” Frank argued enthusiastically.

“Or a good excuse why we should butt-out of Sol System affairs,” Senator Barnett grumbled out for all to consider.

Several members of the committee mumbled their agreement with Senator Barnett's assessment. Senator Hewitt appeared to be noncommittal either way. He took a moment to gauge the sentiments of his committee, and then he turned to Frank with a new question.

“But you think that this business venture will benefit starcorps in the long run?”

“There's no doubt about it,” Frank insisted excitedly. “When the Sol System becomes a member of the starcorp economic community, the financial benefits will be staggering. The entire population of Earth will be accessible to us. The starcorps will have the means to quicken our pace of growth a hundredfold.”

“And all the problems of Earth will leak into the starcorps,” Senator Barnett disputed. “We don’t need the people of Earth.”

“Mr. Chairperson,” Frank quickly interjected. “We cannot escape Earth,” he emphasized with an emphatic intonation. “As you have already pointed out, the UEF will develop a star-drive sooner or later. If we wait to engage with Earth when this happens, then we could lose all of the advantages that are available to us now and inherit all of the problems that you’re worrying about.”

Several of the committee members nodded their agreement with this assessment. Senator Barnett’s opposition to Frank’s business venture was unchanged, and Senator Hewitt was just as noncommittal as before.

“There’s no guarantee that you can win a war with the UEF,” Senator Barnett argued defiantly. “This is a risk that we don’t need.”

“Now is the only chance we have at winning a war with an Earth Space Force,” Frank quickly argued back with a glare toward Senator Barnett. “Earth has no star-drive. It’s now or never.”

Again, there were nods of agreement from members of the committee, but this time it came from most of the senators seated at the table. Senator Barnett had no counter for Frank’s argument and settled back into his chair with a frown. Senator Hewitt pondered Frank’s words for several seconds and then commenced to speak the thought that came to mind with an inflection of concern.

“The Tellurian Resistance chose not to enter into this contract. Is this going to be a problem?”

“The Rebel Warriors Army and the Free Earth Legion represent most of Earth’s population,” Frank returned without hesitation.

“But none of these resistance organization leaders are elected officials,” Senator Christopher Newton proffered from further down the table. “We don’t even know if most of the people of Earth want a new government.”

“We do know that most of the people on Earth have no choice in who governs them,” Frank explained with a toss of his hands. “And the Earth resistance fighters have earned the right to speak for them.”

“How so?” Senator Hewitt questioned with a look that said he was curious to know how Frank came to that determination.

Frank hesitated to focus his attention onto Senator Hewitt, and then he spoke with a definitive intonation.

“They paid for it in blood. No one has more of a right to speak on the behalf of an oppressed people then those who fought to end their oppression.”

There was no response to Frank’s declaration. The senators took a moment to pondered Frank’s argument. Shortly into his deliberation, Senator Hewitt leaned forward to speak his thoughts.

“Gentlemen, I need a vote of hands. All in favor of taking Mr. Weaver’s petition to the floor of the General assembly signify so by raising a hand.”

Hewitt was the only senator present who did not raise a hand. Grudgingly, Senator Barnett was the last to raise a hand. Hewitt took a moment to note all the senators who raised their hands before turning to Frank to speak.

“Okay, Mr. Weaver, we will bring your request before the General Assembly, and I will support it. You should get your answer within a few days.”

Frank looked back and forth along the table to assess if the other senators were equally supportive. Their expressions were unreadable. Even Senator Barnett was mum. But Frank took their silence and blank faces as a sign that they were not decidedly opposed. After this moment of study, Frank thanked the senators for their time and attention, and then he left the conference room with Abel by his side. When they were out of sight and earshot of anyone connected to the committee, Abel looked to Frank with an amused expression and then began to speak with a questioning inflection.

“No one has more of a right to speak on the behalf of an oppressed people than those who fought to end their oppression?”

At the end of this statement, Abel shook his head with a bewildered expression on his face and let out a laugh. Frank turned toward him with a sly smile before speaking with a barely contained grin.

“It just came to me.”

Abel returned his grin as they continued their walk. Several steps later, a question arose within Abel’s thinking.

“Are you sure the Tellurian Resistance won’t be a problem?”

“What can they do?” Frank glibly returned as they continued to walk.


	8. Thinking Out Loud

“Baby, I did it. The Senate green-lighted my deal. We're going to be rolling in money, just you wait and see. I can feel it. This is going to be huge. I'm going to have to hang around here for a few months, maybe a year. I just have to meet some people, shake some hands—do what I do, and then it's easy street. This is it, Baby. I'm coming back to HL02 just as soon as I get this deal set up. Wait for me, Baby. I'm coming.”

Frank had been away from HL02 for 113 days when this video message came to Charlotte. A transport spaceship carried the video message from BX01 to HL02. When the spaceship arrived inside the Astra Star System it dumped all the digital messages it was carrying for HL02 into its communication network. This sent several thousand digital messages out to every HL02 habitat and installation in the star system. Frank’s message arrived inside Charlotte’s computer as an internet video message four minutes after the start of the dump.

Charlotte was listening to Frank’s jubilant video message in her apartment living room. The video message was playing on the large wall monitor in the room. Seated on the couch to either side of Charlotte were Lindsay McKenna and Catherine Tagawa. This was Charlotte's fifth viewing of Frank's video message and the first viewing for Lindsay and Catherine.

“He's not coming back,” Lindsay stated flatly.

“He says he will,” Charlotte returned with a shrug.

“No way,” Lindsay spoke with a decisive intonation. “If he’s got some deal going in BX01, then he’s gone for good.” 

“You don’t know that,” Catherine disputed with Lindsay.

An instant behind that remark, Catherine directed her attention at Charlotte.

“Frank kept paying on that contract with you when no one else would have,” Catherine suggested without conviction.

Charlotte pondered Catherine's words for a moment.

“Maybe,” Charlotte responded with a shrug.

“Wait a minute,” Lindsay challenged with a confused expression. “You're not waiting for him to come back?”

“No,” Charlotte insisted with excessively feigned sincerity. “I just thought one of you might be able to explain this message from him.”

“He's crazy,” Lindsay snapped back.

“I think he likes you—a lot,” Catherine emphasized with a smile. “But I don't think he's too bright.”

Catherine and Lindsay giggle for several seconds. Charlotte reacted with a smile before verbally responding to the remark.

“Yeah, I suppose.”

“Forget about him,” Catherine encouraged with a positive inflection. “Frank is full of big plans that never work out. If you want a fourth SCU then find someone who can give you three-times what Frank was paying.”

“Yeah,” Lindsay agreed enthusiastically. “Frank is gone. His contract is history. It's time to move on.”

“I suppose,” Charlotte mumbled out. 

“There’s no suppose about it,” Catherine insisted. “It’s time to forget about Frank Weaver and to move on to someone else.”

“I'll think about it,” Charlotte responded, unconvincingly.

It was clear to Lindsay and Catherine that Charlotte wanted to end this topic of conversation rather than entertain any thoughts about acquiring another SCU. A silence grew between them for a short time.

“So, what's this deal that Frank is working on?” Lindsay questioned to break the awkwardness.

“He says the Earth Resistance Forces are going to pay him to fight the UEF,” Charlotte answered with the hint of a questioning inflection.

“You're kidding,” Catherine almost laughed out.

“Well, that’s what he told me,” Charlotte reported with a shrug and a look of dismay.

“Where is he planning on getting the military to do that?” Lindsay challenged.

“I don’t know,” Charlotte confessed. “But he's working some kind of plan.”

“I think you mean he's working a fantasy,” Catherine spoke, jokingly.

Lindsay laughed in response to Catherine's remark. Catherine gave it a laugh after a moment of thought, and Charlotte gave it a wide smile for a couple of seconds.

“Frank dreams big,” Charlotte reported with the beginnings of a grin on her face. “I like that about him.”

“To each her own,” Lindsay countered with sarcasm.

Lindsay’s remark produced laughter from the three of them.

_~~~~~Line Break~~~~~_

“Mr. Weaver, this plan of yours is a huge gamble,” David Findlay warily instructed. “What guarantee can you give us that we will see a return on our investment?”

“Guarantee?” Frank cried out just before releasing a boisterous laugh. “I'm offering you the opportunity to get in on the biggest business deal ever put together. Everyone who takes part in this venture stands to come out of it with a profit one-hundred times greater than their investment… minimum. Am I talking to a bunch of retirees weighing if they should gamble with their life savings, or am I talking to venture capitalists? Risk is the name of the game.”

The vehemence in Frank's speech stunned his audience into a moment of silence. The assembly had been listening to Frank’s presentation on the potential of his contractual agreement with the Rebel Warriors Army and the Free Earth Legion for nearly half an hour. They spent the next 15 minutes questioning him on the details of the agreement. Their questions appeared to be focused on the viability of a contractual agreement with any Earth based organization. The past five minutes were spent examining Frank for indicators that his analysis of this endeavor was well thought out. This last challenge by David Findlay appeared to be the last unanswered question they had.

Frank was standing alone on a lecture hall dais. Seated in the assembly hall in front of him were the representatives of 127 extravagantly wealthy potential partners from across the starcorp community. Nearly everyone in the auditorium were lawyers with offices in BX01 and were authorized to conduct the legal affairs of a client outside of this star system. Frank invited them to this presentation so that they could relay his offer to their clients.

The presentation concluded shortly after Frank's risk remark. The representatives had learned all that they needed to know and had no more questions to ask. The prolonged silence that followed Frank's last remark encouraged him to conclude his sales pitch and to give leave to his audience to relay his offer to their clients. The assembly hall emptied within a few minutes after this invite. The representatives filed out without any discussion between them. Frank could not be sure how his pitch went over, but he suspected that grumblings of displeasure as they left would have been a good indicator that his pitch was not well received.

BX01 was the central bank of the starcorps and consisted of the Starships Berenberg, Giannini, Warburg and Rothschild. Its location was the Ross Star System under the development of Starcorp RLC02. BX01's complete ticker symbol, BX01E21270705, was the same as it was on the day of its incorporation in the Sol System. This fact reflected the reality that its original incorporation remained unchanged despite this new location for its administrative headquarters.

Frank chose to solicit for investors in this location because of the convenience it provided him. Traveling to all the star systems where a starcorp was located would have taken multiple years to complete. It was well known that all exceedingly wealthy starcorp industrialists maintained legal representation within the BX01 Starcorp. This was where all inter-starcorp deals were developed and signed.

BX01 was the central location for starcorp banking, high finance, corporate insurance, sales conventions, showcases and conferences. BX01 was the hub of the starcorp community. Frank knew he could pitch his idea here and it would go out to all potential investors simultaneously. To facilitate this communication, the meeting was recorded and all the representatives there were given a copy to present to their clients. Frank had only to wait for the responses to come to him over the next 6 to 9 months.

_~~~~~Line Break~~~~~_

“So, Mr. Findlay, what do you think of this deal?” Ryan DeWitt gruffly questioned as he sat back in his oversized chair and examined the messenger seated in front of his desk.

It took David Findlay 48 real-time days to reach Starcorp CMS02 in the Argyle Star System. His profession as Ryan DeWitt's BX01 lawyer made face-to-face communication necessary when the business being discussed surpassed a threshold dollar amount and there were no set instructions on how to proceed. But these were rare occasions. The travel time between star systems made face to face messaging inefficient. Because of this inefficiency, less than 1% of business dealings between starcorp inhabitants went outside of the star system. This was true despite a growing market for trade between starcorps. These unfulfilled business opportunities were behind Radstar, an interstellar communications network. The immense expense associated with the installation of Radstar was the only thing holding up Radstar’s implementation.

Traveling to another star system had no effect on the delivery speed of a message. Without a functioning interstellar communications network all forms of messaging had to be physically transported via star-drive across interstellar space. The only inconvenience that came with transporting a person along with the message was the lost time spent doing nothing while in transit. David Findlay endured this lost time to make the trip to CMS02 so that he could converse with his only client, Ryan DeWitt. Meeting with a lawyer or representative from another star system who had a face to face engagement with the person or persons proposing a business venture gave the client someone to question. David Findlay believed this was necessary so that he could give immediate responses to Ryan DeWitt’s inquiries about the business opportunity Frank Weaver was shopping around.

“Mr. DeWitt, this is a unique business opportunity,” David Findlay began with a hesitancy in his speech. “If Frank Weaver pulls this off, it will be the largest business venture ever put together.”

“Or the biggest fiasco,” Ryan DeWitt thought out loud.

Ryan DeWitt was number seven on the list of the richest people in all the starcorps. He had a seat on CMS02's Board of Directors. He was a robust man who looked to have no interest in physical activities at present or had any interest of doing so in his past. His primary interest was in accumulating wealth. His amusements revolved around entertaining and being entertained by his six male consorts. He had academic credentials in a wide range of disciplines and his adeptness for math made this preoccupation very profitable. Because of his relentless search for good investments, Ryan DeWitt maintained legal representation in BX01 that was tasked with the job of keeping an eye out for profitable business ventures.

“What’s your read on this Frank Weaver?” Ryan DeWitt questioned after a pause and with an intonation of disdain.

Ryan DeWitt and David Findlay had just finished watching the presentation that Frank recorded in BX01. It was now David Findlay’s turn to speak his opinion about this business proposal.

“Up until now, most of his business ventures were nickel and dime operations,” David Findlay began after taking a moment to recall his research. “His successes outnumber his failures, but he did invest in a reckless mining venture a year back. It failed disastrously.”

Ryan DeWitt had a clear dislike for Frank Weaver. This was visible in his mannerism and audible in the tenor of his voice. This was not a unique disposition for Ryan DeWitt. He frequently disliked people at first sight. This was a mindset that could easily change with further interaction, but dislike was his default disposition.

“So, he's a fool,” Ryan DeWitt spat back in response to David Findlay’s report.

“His background is primarily in sales,” David Findlay halfheartedly defended. “But I think it would be a mistake to underestimate the potential of this venture.”

“But he doesn't have the experience to actually know what he's talking about?” Ryan DeWitt quickly disputed. “He’s out of his depth.”

David Findlay discerned from this response that Ryan DeWitt was reaching for excuses to turn down this deal. This was not an action he favored. By his calculation, Frank Weaver had set up an enormous business opportunity. David Findlay thought it unwise to casually dismiss this venture.

“He’s selling partnership shares. Your buy-in would give you some weight of influence over the management of this venture,” David Findlay suggested in defense of the deal.

Ryan DeWitt took a moment to weigh this idea and then began to speak his mind about Frank Weaver.

“I don't like this guy,” Ryan DeWitt announced with a scowl. “I think he's a loser. Gambling on a loser is a bad bet.”

Ryan DeWitt took a moment to think on his assessment of Frank Weaver before adding his final thought.

“And he sounds like a crook.”

“Mr. DeWitt,” David Findlay spoke up with a hint of alarm in his voice. “This deal could payoff big. I'm not sure anyone of your stature can afford to sit on the sideline while this venture is going forward.”

“This deal is a con man's wet dream,” Ryan DeWitt argued back. “He's talking about turning war into a business.”

David Findlay took a few seconds to assess what he was hearing. He considered resigning himself to the probability that Ryan DeWitt was going to take a pass on this business proposition. A second thought convinced him that he had to try one more time.

“With all do respect, Sir,” David Findlay began with a pleading sincerity. “If this con man gets what he's asking for, this deal will likely put itself together.”

David Findlay hesitated to give weight to this statement, and then he began to speak again with an inflection of determination.

“You don't have to go in big, but I really think you should buy in on this deal.”

“He's not going to get the money,” Ryan DeWitt insisted definitively. “I'm telling you, nobody is going to join in on this madness. We're talking about constructing a war machine to do battle with the UEF Space Force. The last time we fought the UEF, we barely got away. We can’t win that war. Nobody is that stupid.”

David Findlay was flustered by Ryan DeWitt’s unintentional rebuke. He took a moment to steady himself before responding to Ryan DeWitt in a soft voice.

“He was very convincing.”

Ryan DeWitt noted that he had unnerved his guest and settled back in his chair to give him some relief. For several seconds he said nothing while he considered how to respond. At the end of this time he began to speak calmly and with a shake of his head.

“This deal is all pie in the sky. He'll never put this partnership together, let alone build a war machine to battle with a space force a hundred times more powerful. Go back to BX and tell Frank Weaver to piss off.”

David Findlay left the office with the suspicion that Ryan DeWitt had just made a very bad decision.

_~~~~~Line Break~~~~~_

Ninety-eight days after the meeting, the first prospective partner arrived to sign in on the deal with the condition that the full amount be raised through other partners. This precondition came as no surprise to Frank, but the ratio was steeper than he would have preferred. The amount of the investment represented only 1/200th of the minimum total sum that Frank needed as leverage to get BX01 to finance the difference. This meant that he would have to find a larger number of investors than his original calculation. There were other preconditions that also came as no surprise to Frank. The prospective partner wanted some oversight over the development and use of the war machine. This condition was explained as a protection to ensure that his investment was being professionally managed. This was a detail that Frank was expecting, and it was one he was ready to negotiate if, and when, he amassed his full compliment of partners. Over the next eleven days, three more prospective partners signed on with similar conditions. The addition of the amounts that they promised to invest into the venture meant that 7 percent of the amount that Frank was asking for was covered. Over the next 89 days Frank collected 13 prospective partners. All totaled, he had 17 declared investors in this business venture that he was trying to get off the ground. This prospective partnership represented 83% of the minimum sum of funds that he set out to accrue.

By this time, Frank was convinced that the minimum amount he was hoping to raise was not going to happen. This belief was motivated by the fact that the frequency of new investors seemed to have dwindled to a stop. He also knew that all the people he solicited to be a part of his venture had enough time to decide and get back to him. His thoughts turned to the choices of convincing his prospective partners into contributing more to the venture or working with the capital he had. Over the next nine days, Frank had heard from no new investors but had convinced five of his prospective partners to increase their buy ins. These increases raised the total amount to 88% of the minimum sum that Frank was trying to collect. But this amount was not enough to satisfy seven of his prospective partners or BX01. The agreement they made with Frank required that he raise the minimum sum before they would go forward with their participation in the deal. Frank knew that the absence of their investment into the deal would convince the remaining ten prospective partners to back out of the deal. This situation had Frank on the precipice of folding on the deal. It was on this day and at this time that three new prospective partners walked into the sitting room of his apartment.

“Mr. Dryer, I'm glad to hear that you want to be a part of this venture. But I must tell you, I'm going to need a very large investment to go forward with it.”

Ronald Dryer presented himself as the lead of this small group. Standing with him was Jennifer Mercer and Shaun Hedley.

“Then I think I can help you,” Ronald Dryer stated as he reached into the inside pocket of his suitcoat.

Ronald Dryer pulled out of his pocket a small transparent display monitor. After touching it to the commlink wand wrapped around his wrist, the monitor illuminated with an operating system program. He then navigated through the programing with several taps of his thumbs on the app in the display. A few seconds later, he stopped on a readout displaying a very large sum of money and extended the monitor toward Frank.

“Will this do?”

Frank took the monitor and noted the figure on the display with a mildly astonished expression. After a few seconds of amazement, Frank looked to Ronald with intrigue.

“Can you deliver this?”

“Yes, we can,” Jennifer answered before Ronald could respond.

“Who are you?” Frank questioned from behind a mild display of astonishment. “I mean, your names weren’t listed on the registry at my presentation—not as a representative or a client.”

“Mr. Weaver,” Ronald began politely. “We represent nearly 3,000 people who want to reconnect with Earth. We call ourselves the Terran Group.”

This answer sparked a memory in Frank. He took a couple of seconds to bring a thought into focus before speaking again.

“That's a club on HL02,” Frank responded with a near questioning inflection.

“We have chapters in every starcorp,” Ronald explained. “I'm from LXP02.”

“My chapter is located in AY02,” Jennifer declared behind Ronald.

“And my chapter is inside Starcorp CME02,” Shaun announced in turn.

Frank thought about this information until he came up with a query a few seconds later.

“And what is it that you do?”

Ronald took half a step forward before commencing with his reply.

“Not everyone in the starcorps want to be separated from the planet of our origin. The Terran Group has spent the past 40 years gathering supporters and petitioning the Senate to initiate talks with the Earth government. We want to help you to make this business venture happen.”

Frank took in this answer, gave it a moment of thought and then began to stare at the sum of currency displayed on the mini monitor in his hand.

“So, is that enough to get your project going, Mr. Weaver?” Ronald questioned with a hint of worry in his speech.

“Yes, Mr. Dryer,” Frank returned without looking up from monitor. “This is enough.”


	9. Old Business

Seven days after the posting of the minimum funding necessary to commence with the development of Frank Weaver's war-machine, plus 18%, a Board of Directors was formed. Frank was assigned the position of Chairman of the Board. An additional 17 investors were assigned to the Board with him. Representing the Terran Group was Ronald Dryer. Counting the Terran Group as a single block, there was a total of 74 investors. Three days later, the ticker symbol WDF02 was registered with BX01. It took another 52 days for the executive leadership positions of War-Machine WDF02 to be filled.

Immediately after the deal was signed into motion, Frank was wealthier than he had ever been in his life. Twenty-three days after WDF02's Executive Leadership was established; Frank took possession of a center column deluxe apartment inside Starship Rothschild. Before this deal went into motion, he had his doubts that it ever would. Now that it was in motion, he had trouble believing his good fortune. His mind struggled with the realization that an enterprise he started was working to create wealth for him a thousand times greater than what he was realizing now. The only thing standing in the way of this bonanza was the UEF’s dominion over the Sol System. His war-machine would have to physically dislodge the UEF from power, and no one was sure that this could be done.

The WDF02 was a true business enterprise unlike the RG01 War Machine that was constructed 56 years earlier in the Sol System. RG01’s ticker symbol was a subterfuge to conceal the fact that the starcorp community was building a war machine. The ticker symbol, WDF02, represented a wholly owned private enterprise that was being run by its investors and a contract workforce for the profit of all. But WDF02 was not by definition a starcorp. The workforce had no ownership of the war-machine. There were no elected government officials or judiciary. This was a private business venture that was external to the starcorps.

The construction of War-Machine WDF02 was expected to be completed within 1 to 2 years. The speed of this construction when compared to the construction of RG01 60 years earlier had everything to do with the difference between the starcorp community of then and now. When the starcorps were wholly located in the Sol System, they were the dominant power for most of their time there. Earth was an insignificant threat, and the starcorp community had no hostile feelings toward each other. Subsequently, the starcorps had no need for a ready space force of any significance, and the capital expenditure to create and maintain one made such a force an unnecessary expense. It was only after Earth became a military threat that the starcorps directed their industrial might to the task of making weapons of war, and this effort began from scratch. The research into a new weapon system that was designed solely for use in space took several years to complete. The secrecy employed in the retooling of the factories and the building of the systems cost the manufacturing process twice the length of time that it normally would. All these problems that existed in the past did not exist in this moment.

When the starcorp community divided out into 23 separate star systems a feeling of insecurity went with them. The war-machine RG01 was the collective property of the starcorp community, but it could not be everywhere at the same time. And the threat of retaliation from Earth was just a short star drive hop away. Because of this concern, the starcorps began investing significant portions of their wealth into the maintenance of a space force. This addition to the infrastructure of starcorps nurtured the research and development of weapons of war and the factories to build them. By this time, making weapons of war was no longer a fledgling endeavor for the starcorp community. Factories for the development of space-based weapons of war existed in all 23 starcorps. Mass producing these weapons in large quantities was a simple matter of money.

With regards to the development of his war-machine project, Frank's work was done, for the most part. All the big decisions regarding WDF02 had already been debated and voted on by its Board of Directors, and the small decisions did not require his presence. The construction of the war-machine and the development of its fighting force was in the hands of its Project Manager, ADM Nathan Lazaro. He was also the most likely candidate to become War-Machine WDF02's Commanding Officer when its construction was completed. WDF02's Board of Directors had little more to do than wait for the final product. Frank chose this time to turn his attention to old business.

“What are you doing here?” Charlotte nearly shouted.

Charlotte's astonishment was quickly smothered by Frank's rush across the threshold of her apartment door and the abrupt hug that followed.

“I'm here for you, don't you remember?” Frank questioned before moving a step back from Charlotte while beaming an excited expression.

Frank spent the last three weeks and four days traveling from BX01 to HL02. His eagerness to see Charlotte motivated him to acquire passage aboard a transport spaceship that was making a direct jump to the star system where HL02 was located. His expenditure of time away from WDF02 was not a concern of any significance, but Frank's eagerness to see Charlotte did have him in a hurry. When his shuttle parked inside Starship Berlin, he sent his bags to the hotel, and he set off for Charlotte's apartment. He counted on Charlotte keeping to the schedule he was accustomed to. And he wanted to surprise her. 

“But you're supposed to be in BX01 putting your war-machine together.”

“Yeah, it's going great. Can you believe it?”

“Yes, everybody is talking about it,” Charlotte agreed with a confused shake of her head.

This acknowledgement was not without corroboration. WDF02 was the biggest news story airing throughout the starcorp community. During Frank's time away from HL02 he grew from a neighborhood entrepreneur to the most renowned businessperson throughout the starcorps. There were few places he could go and not be recognized.

“So, what do you think?” Frank asked with a burst of excitement in his voice.

Charlotte was still confused by Frank's sudden appearance. She was not sure how to react to his exuberance for his new business venture. Her mind was too busy pondering his reason for being there. After a moment of thought she began to stutter out a reply.

“It's, it's great.”

Frank seconded that opinion by suddenly grasping Charlotte’s waist between his hands, lifting her off the floor and doing a 360-degree spin while grinning out, “Yes, it is. I'm rich.”

“Frank, put me down,” Charlotte complained halfheartedly.

Frank was already in the process of returning Charlotte to her feet when she spoke. He took a step back with a big smile and began to speak again.

“It's really happening,” Frank declared with an amazed expression. “This is going to be huge.”

Charlotte shook off her confusion by the time Frank finished this remark. She gave Frank a stern look and then began to speak what was really on her mind.

“Why are you here, Frank?”

Charlotte's first thought was that Frank was here on business. This was the only reason that made sense of Frank coming back to HL02. Sacrificing several weeks just to see her made no sense in her mind. And the thought of him coming to HL02 to renew his old contract with her seemed even further away from plausibility. She had no doubt that Frank was wealthy enough to afford a dozen consorts. And she had no illusion that she was prettier than all the women living inside BX01. Most of the wealthiest people in the starcorps had promenade floor homes inside Starship Rothschild, and a lot of very attractive professional consorts also had residences there.

“I'm here for you.”

Frank took a moment to rethink that statement and spoke it again with a correction.

“I'm here for us.”

Charlotte was stunned by what she just heard. It seemed clear to Charlotte that Frank wanted to renew their contract, but in her mind, this made no sense. By her thinking, Frank would be a fool to sign her to a social contract now that he was living and working in a whole new star system. Charlotte took a moment to ponder the absurdity of that idea before electing to give a sarcastic reply.

“Okay, Mr. Moneybags, if you want another social contract with me then I want 4 times what you were paying before.”

“What?” Frank suddenly questioned with a look of astonishment.

The suddenness of this response supported Charlotte’s belief that Frank was not serious about entering into a new social contract with her. This thought endured for the duration of a pause, and then Frank began to speak some more.

“That's nothing,” Frank asserted enthusiastically. “I will match what all of your other SCU's are paying. I'm talking about an exclusive contract. Just you and me, Baby.”

For several seconds, Charlotte was speechless. She assessed that the stipend Frank was talking about would be more than six times what Frank had been paying her in the past. For the first time, Charlotte's mind began to entertain the thought that Frank wanted to take her back to BX01 with him.

“What are you saying, Frank?” Charlotte fumbled out with a blank stare. “Are you suggesting that I—I drop my other SCU's and move?”

Frank was amused by Charlotte's response. He could see that his proposal came as a shock to her. This made him want to shock her even more, and he quickly spoke up to do just that.

“What?” Frank vociferously questioned. “That's not enough?”

Frank hesitated to give Charlotte a mixed expression of surprise and terror.

“Okay then, double it,” Frank blurted out with vehemence. “This is our time. It's you and me, Baby. I'm on my way up,” Frank leaned to say with insistence. “I came here for you, Charlotte,” Frank expressed with soft sincerity as he moved still closer. “Come with me?” Frank pleaded at a whisper from inches away.

Charlotte was overwhelmed with surprise by Frank's earnest entreaty. She paused to ponder how to reply, but this was driven by her amazement with what she was being offered. She knew that Frank's offer would uproot the life she had lived for the past 17 years. The suddenness and the extremity of the change was causing her to balk at a response, but this had little sway on the lean of her thinking. She could not come up with a rational for saying no, and she did not want to. This was an extraordinary offer. This was wealth and comfort and excitement on a scale that she had never experienced before. And what made this even more enticing, it was Frank.

“Okay, Frank,” Charlotte softly agreed after a several seconds of thought.

Charlotte inched forward after speaking these words. She slid her arms up over Frank's shoulders and around his neck. She gleamed out a roguish smile and then continued to speak.

“I'm all yours,” Charlotte affirmed through a near grin.

A second later, Frank and Charlotte were kissing. This continued for several minutes. After that, they spent the next half hour terminating Charlotte’s three social contract unions. This they did with the help of an online lawyer. It took another 20 minutes to setup a new social contract between them. When this was completed, they spent the next 5 hours commemorating the signing of that contract.


	10. A Brooding Brew

Vincent Donovan's day was just starting. He was four hours away from turning on all the lights and unlocking the doors to the pawnshop that he owned and operated. This was an early start for Vincent. His trip down from his dwelling above the shop to the basement below it occurred at the top of the 8 o'clock hour on a normal day. If there was extra pre-opening work to be done, he would come down in the 7 o'clock hour. On this day he was going down to the basement at 5:55 in the morning. This start time was an exception to the exception of his norms.

The workday for Vincent was 12 hours long on average. The pawnshop was open for business during 10 of these hours. When the doors were open, he and his wife, Cynthia Donovan, would spend the day buying and selling used goods, maintaining the shop and keeping the books. He spent the hours before the shops opening prepping the displays and readying the registers. During the hour after he locked the shop’s door, Vincent would total the day's sales and expenditures and record the data. The task he was engaged in at this early hour in the morning was not a match for any of these activities.

Counting the basement, Vincent's pawnshop and home had 4 levels. He and his wife lived in the top 2 levels. The basement of the building was where Vincent stored excess furniture and supplies for his home and his shop. A computer station in a corner of the basement was where he did the bookkeeping for his pawnshop. Adjacent to his computer station was a virtual reality game interface unit. This is where he administrated over the operation of the Tellurian Resistance.

Vincent Donovan was the 93-year-old owner of Donovan's Pawnshop. He was also the Commander-in-Chief of the Tellurian Resistance. His pastime as the leader of an underground guerrilla army was unknown to everyone but his wife, but his public name in this capacity was known to all, Red Rabbit.

In appearance Vincent looked to be in his late sixties. He was still in his pajamas and robe when he sluggishly ambled across the basement floor of his home. He held a cup of coffee in front of him as he made his way to his computer station, and then he set it down on the desk. He then turned toward the virtual reality game station and commenced to climb into the unit.

The virtual reality game interface unit was a whole-body motion capture exoskeleton attached to a robotic arm. The exoskeleton was suspended in midair by the robotic arm. The robotic arm had three sections. The joints between the sections enabled the arm to bend, and the coupling to the exoskeleton’s lower back was a swivel.

After stepping into the foot pads at the bottom of the exoskeleton and inserting his hands into the exogloves, the entire exoskeleton clasped onto Vincent at 12 separate locations about his torso, limbs and feet. Vincent endured this event with indifference. A second later, he pulled down the helmet along with the attached 3-dimensional goggles and microphone.

“Computer, run Odysseus. Enter,” Vincent spoke into the microphone.

“Initiating Odysseus,” the computer acknowledged in Vincent’s earphone.

Seconds after speaking this command, Vincent Donovan found himself alone inside a large gray dimly lit virtual room with an avatar for a body. The features of his avatar bared no resemblance to his true appearance. After a short wait, another avatar materialized within the room. A few seconds after that, a third computer generated avatar appeared from out of nowhere. Their physical configurations were human designs, but the proportions and the colorations of the avatars gave them a digital animation look. All three avatars were male.

“Cadmium,” Vincent grumbled at the two avatars in front of him.

Cadmium was an identifying code word. Also, it was Vincent’s way of telling the silhouettes that he was not compromised. A second after Vincent spoke his code word, the first avatar to appear responded with the code word, “Lavender.” The second avatar followed in turn with the code word, “Brandy.” The tenor of the voices from all three avatars were electronically altered to have an inhuman resonance.

The avatars, the altered vocal resonance and the code words were the measures used to keep the identities of the participants in this conversation a secret from each other and the world. The three men in attendance for this meeting were the leaders of the three most powerful resistance movements on Earth. Encrypted communications across the internet was the medium where all resistance forces operated. Scurrying about in streets and alleys, holding meetings in basements and attics were quickly proven to be an unworkable method of running a resistance in this age of high-tech omnipresent surveillance. Hiding behind encrypted communications across the internet was the only workable way of orchestrating attacks against the UEF.

The strength of a resistance movement correlated with the size of its network. The Free Earth Legion, the Rebel Warriors Army and the Tellurian Resistance consisted of tens of thousands of individuals hiding in the dark web behind code names, passwords and encryptions. All within these movements operated without knowledge of the identities of 97% of its members. Without exception, these resistance movements were vast collections of cells that operated in the blind. They knew only what they needed to know. Each cell was partitioned from the others by unique encryptions. This was in place to ensure that the loss of a cell would not compromise the network.

Cells were made up of field operatives. Handlers managed the cells. Above the cells and the handlers was a jigsaw board of regional commanders, engineers and computer geeks who provided technical expertise and managed the logistics and communications. The top level of all resistance movements was comprised of a small collection of computer specialists, central commanders and a Commander-in-Chief. It was the job of this last group to administrate over the entire network and to direct the resistance campaign. Vincent Donovan was the Commander-in-Chief of the Tellurian Resistance.

“Speak,” Vincent instructed with a lazy delivery.

Vincent crossed his arms as he waited on the reply.

“We're seeing demonstrations in the streets,” the avatar of Iron Wolf spoke with his electronically distorted voice. “Opposition to the deal we made with the starcorps is growing.”

The demonstrations were occurring in large cities across Europe, Asia and the Americas. The sizes of the crowds were not excessive, but the number of these events was.

“So?” Vincent questioned in a voice that was heavily laced with indifference.

“Are you behind it?” The avatar of Purple Dragon challenged with an intonation of suspicion.

Vincent showed no signs that he was offended by the accusation and commenced a response to the remark in a droll tenor of speech.

“The masses do as they will. I have no control over that.”

“These riots are not spontaneous anti-starcorp outbursts,” Iron Wolf growled back in an outburst. “Someone is motivating these riots.”

“And you think I am that somebody?” Vincent coolly questioned.

“Everyone knows that you did not go in on this deal with us,” Purple Dragon explained in a quick retort.

This was not news to any of the three participating in this conversation or most who were not. News of the starcorps return to the Sol System, and the Tellurian Resistance’s opposition to it, was a popular topic of conversation on planet Earth. Everyone had an opinion about the subject, and most had fiercely held positions.

“Use your heads,” Vincent bellowed with irritation in his voice. “The UEF is using this to sow discord within your ranks.”

This was an idea that Iron Wolf and Purple Dragon were considering and gave considerable weight. They knew that hatred for the starcorps by a considerable minority of Earthers was fomenting rebellion within their resistance movements. They knew this could only work to the advantage of the UEF. Subsequently, this made the UEF a strong suspect. But this did not exonerate Vincent as the instigator of these riots. It also made the Red Rabbit's opposition to the starcorp deal dangerous to them.

“If this is true, then it’s working.” Iron Wolf argued in response to Vincent's last remark.

“This is just another reason why you should join us,” Purple Dragon quickly added.

“This is why you should back out of the deal,” Vincent countered with an inflection of rage. “The people of Earth will not tolerate a return of starcorp overlords.”

“It won’t be that way this time,” Purple Dragon earnestly refuted.

Vincent took a moment to grumble under his breath before speaking with disdain in his voice.

“Your naiveté is tedious.”

“And your stupidity is infuriating,” Iron Wolf barked back with rage.

This was not a new argument between them. Vincent Donovan's unqualified hatred for the starcorps was a constant interference with the more flexible thinking of Iron Wolf and Purple Dragon.

“We need to present a united front to counter this resistance,” Purple Dragon insisted. “The starcorps are our only way out from under the boot of the UEF.”

“I will not agree to any deal with the starcorps that allows them to reconstitute their presence in the Sol System,” Vincent roared back.

Vincent's bellicose refusal provoked Purple Dragon into raising his voice to the level of a yell for the first time.

“It won’t be that way this time. They won’t have standalone business ventures in the Sol System.”

“But they will have a military presence,” Vincent impassively returned.

“But no participation in Earth affairs,” Iron Wolf spoke as though he was correcting something that Vincent mistakenly said.

“They don’t have to participate if we abide to the terms that they set,” Vincent disputed. “They’re planning to turn Earth into a puzzle board of state cooperatives that function like starcorps. We’ll be too busy arguing among ourselves to counter anything they’re doing.”

“You’re being paranoid, or you’re just blind with hate,” Iron Wolf pouted. “This is Earth’s chance to be free of authoritarian regimes—not just parts of it but the whole planet.”

“Can’t you see what that means,” Vincent nearly screamed. “The Earth will be like them. No morality, no protected standards of behavior or decency. Religious teachings will be suppressed. The Earth will become a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah.”

This argument was echoing around the world. Any form of government that resembled a starcorp in operation was automatically reviled by close to 40% of Earth’s population. A government that gave the masses financial shares of ownership in the state were considered godless. This perception was based on the belief that any such government was doomed to pander to the will of heathens for fear of being bankrupted by them. The bottom line of the ledger gave the wants of the majority far greater sway over the social norms of starcorps than any previous form of government. Subsequently, control over the social by the powerful was weakened. For a starcorp government, pleasing the people was more important than restricting them. Within a starcorp, a minority of self-righteous defenders of long held deified and legitimized social restrictions had no sway. Starcorps were the ultimate purveyors of social freedoms and fierce antagonists to rigidly held standards, beliefs and widely held sacrosanct observances.

“That’s a battle for another day,” Purple Dragon grudgingly asserted in response to Vincent’s argument.

“No, it’s not!” Vincent denounced with ferocity.

Vincent took a moment to fume over Purple Dragon’s defeatist acquiescence, and then he spoke again with an undertone of anger.

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”


	11. Coming Up Roses

Frank sat comfortably back in his chair. Infrequently, the fingers of his right hand lightly tapped the top of the conference table in a quick sequence of thumps. This was not a sign of impatience. He knew that the person he was waiting for would walk into the room within the next one to two minutes. The thumping of his fingers on the table was an indicator of anxiousness. Frank was eager for good news from the coming visitor.

The news Frank was waiting for was not a large departure from what he had been hearing over the past several months. Good reports about the status of WDF02’s development had become common occurrences. The weekly reports were almost mind-numbing repetitions of reports from the weeks before. What had Frank anxious this day was the fact that the construction of two basestars was rumored to be completed. The pronouncement of their completion was pending and had been so for the past 9 weeks. Each new report gave hope to Frank that the next one would announce the end of the construction phase of War-Machine WDF02. The supporting components, 1,000 starfighters; 100 spacefighters and 3,000 WDF02 War-Machine crewmen, were ready and waiting. The pending launch of Colossus and Goliath was the only thing holding up the manning and training of a pre-operational war-machine. For Frank this meant that he was much closer to the vast wealth he was expecting to accumulate. It also meant he was much closer to the start of the main event in this exciting new adventure.

Colossus and Goliath was the name given to the two basestars that were being constructed for War-Machine WDF02. The manufacturing of the basestars was the most laborious part of the war-machine’s construction. Seventeen months was put into their manufacture and assembly, but this was fast by the standards of this time. Four basestars were under construction when WDF02 placed its order. Half of all starcorps had a basestar. Their design and the manufacturing process were greatly improved from the time of their conception six decades earlier. This was equally true for the mows or starfighters as they were renamed.

“Directors,” ADM Nathan Lazaro greeted an instant after his abrupt entry into the conference room.

Frank reacted to ADM Lazaro’s sudden appearance by bringing his hands together on the tabletop and leaning forward in his chair.

“I hope everyone is in the mood for good news,” ADM Lazaro continued as he sat down in the chair at the far end of conference table.

ADM Nathan Lazaro was accompanied by his lieutenants, Commander Craig Chaffin, Commander Hugh Fazal, Commander Harvey Engel and Commander Kenneth McCall. The four men took seats along the wall behind ADM Lazaro. A handful of secretaries and assistants were also seated away from the table and along the side walls of the room. All the other room occupants were seated at the table. The conference table was situated in the center of the room, and it was large enough to accommodate 22 chairs in total. Frank was seated at the far end opposite to ADM Lazaro. Seated in the chairs down both sides of the table, were the remaining 18 members of WDF02’s Board of Directors. Ronald Dryer was one of the Directors seated there.

“Good news would be a report that Colossus and Goliath are ready for Launch,” Frank returned in response to ADM Lazaro’s solicitation.

ADM Lazaro paused to give the remark a smile and then he responded to it with words.

“Colossus and Goliath are ready for launch,” the Admiral retorted with a hint of a smile.

The near stationary Directors relaxed into movements of contentment in reaction to this report. They were all glad to hear that the manufacturing stage of the WDF02 War-Machine was over, and they displayed this feeling in their expressions.

“So,” Frank began to speak after a sigh. “When can we begin military operations in the Sol System?”

ADM Lazaro noted Frank’s eagerness and took a moment to consider how he should respond. He knew that the concerns of the investors seated about this table were governed by money. He soon settled on an answer and commenced to speak in a diplomatic tone.

“Ideally, I would prefer devoting a full year to preparing for the mission. But I can condense that down to six months.”

ADM Lazaro was aware of the time concerns of the board. Expediency in the development and deployment of the war-machine had been pressed upon him by Board Members many times in the past. A speedy conclusion to the mission was also encouraged. ADM Lazaro weighed these concerns against each other to produce the six-month timeframe.

“Assuming there will be no significant setbacks,” ADM Lazaro continued after a pause. “I can commence with the subjugation of the Sol System within a year.”

“And what about the UEF,” Director Marvin Purell spoke out in a hurry. “Has there been a change in their military capabilities or posture.”

ADM Lazaro was keeping a close eye on intelligence reports on the UEF. On top of the overall management of War-Machine WDF02’s construction and his briefings to its Board of Directors, ADM Lazaro’s other main concern was the accumulation and study of intelligence on the UEF. The WDF02 Board of Directors were equally attentive to intelligence gathered on the UEF Space Force, and they frequently queried ADM Lazaro on the significance of changes in the its numbers and posture. He pivoted to Director Purell’s question without much thought to his answer.

“The UEF Space Force continues to grow in number,” ADM Lazaro began in a matter of fact tone of speech. “It has doubled in size over the past year, but its growth is limited to spacefighters and battlestars. The UEF is still in its infancy when it comes to manufacturing starships. So, they're not likely to construct a basestar within the next year, and starfighter technology seem to be beyond their capability as well. Basestars, starfighters and our star-drive capability continue to be an advantage for us.”

“Will our technological advantage be enough to offset their numerical superiority?” Director George Felton pressed from behind a look of concern.

Director Felton's question was derived from the worry that the numerical advantage of the UEF was too great for their technological superiority to overcome. Half of the people living in starcorps shared this worry. This thinking was based, in part, on the starcorps last encounter with Earth’s space force. At that time, more than 60 years earlier, 284 starfighters and 1 basestar barely survived an encounter with an Earth Space Force consisting of 3,800 spacefighters. It was the star-drive jump out of the Sol System by the starcorp war-machine that saved them from annihilation. The calculus that many inside the starcorps were making is that 1,000 starfighters and 2 basestars would have less of a chance against 17,000 spacefighters and 30 battlestars. This worry was compounded by the fact that WDF02 would not be running from this fight.

“No, it won’t,” ADM Lazaro began to explain with a casual delivery. “But technological superiority with superior battle tactics will be enough.”

“How can you be sure that your tactics are going to be superior to theirs?” Director Peter Karrenbauer gruffly questioned.

“You can't,” ADM Lazaro answered dismissively and with a distinct air of cockiness. “That's why they call it war. The outcome is not guaranteed to either side.”

“That's not a reassuring answer, ADM Lazaro,” Director Joel Bobrov disputed. “Should we rethink our choice of Commanding Officer for this expedition?”

By this time, ADM Lazaro was not unnerved by questions like this. He had survived several months of criticisms of his planning for this conflict and challenges to his fitness to command War-Machine WDF02. These questions and quarrels always came from two or three of the Board Members and were motivated by their worries rather than a valid complaint. In the end, it always came down to the fact that he was as good as anyone they could get to do the job and by the fact that he has been in-charge since the start of construction.

ADM Nathan Lazaro was an 88-year-old veteran and renowned hero of the Earth/Starcorp Exodus War that occurred six decades earlier. In appearance, he looked to be in his mid-30’s. He was 5’8” in stature and slim of build. His face was narrow. His features were pronounced but well proportioned. A healthy frock of dark brunette hair protruded up from his head and was combed back into a semi groomed arrangement. By the standards of most he was a good-looking man, but this assessment did not extend to his manner. Nathan Lazaro spent much of his 88 years profiting from his reputation as one of the greatest heroes of the Earth/Starcorp Exodus War. His book chronicling his exploits in the war became a bestseller. When he was not living off his past glories, Nathan Lazaro frequently could be found administrating or training a force of fighter pilots or assisting in the design of the next generation of starfighters. Seven separate starcorps developed their space force under his administration.

“Directors,” ADM Lazaro spoke with his gaze fixed on Director Bobrov. “I would not be undertaking this adventure if I was not confident of my ability to effectively manage this war-machine. But understand this, I have a counterpart in the Sol System who is equally confident in his or her abilities, and this would be true no matter who is the commanding officer of WDF02.”

“So, what you're saying is that this is a gamble?” Director Felton craftily questioned.

“It was always a gamble,” ADM Lazaro quickly lectured. “But understand this, Directors, I'm gambling with my life and the lives of every crewman under my command. This is not a risk that I take lightly.”

“We understand, Admiral,” Frank assured in a calming tone of voice. “And we believe in you. I think we're all just a little nervous, and we're looking for something that says we’re not wasting our time.”

“And money,” Director Felton addendum to Frank's remark.

“The UEF is in a defensive posture,” ADM Lazaro began to explain after a moment of thought. “They can't be everywhere at the same time. We're the invaders. We've got nothing to defend in Sol Space, and we have the advantage in maneuverability. Directors, give me one-year in the Sol System, and if I haven't shredded the UEF Space Force by then I will resign with full forfeiture of emolument.”

This confident declaration reassures all the Directors that they are making a good bet. Visible displays of relief can be seen on all their faces. After a few seconds of silence, Frank speaks the final words on the subject.

“Okay, Admiral Lazaro, you have a go. Invade at your earliest convenience.”

_~~~~~Line Break~~~~~_

The Berenberg Starship had been in existence for 86 years. Despite its age, it was the youngest of the BX01’s cluster of starships. BX01 was long past due for a new addition to its group of starships. Before their escape from the Sol System, BX01 added another starship every 17th year, on average. The division of the starcorp community out to 23 separate star systems significantly hindered its development. Communication and transportation between starcorps were slowed by the distance between them. Marshalling the resources of multiple starcorps to perform a joint task became cumbersome. Population growth slowed to a pace that made it unnoticeable to anyone who was not keeping count. The disbursement of the combined starcorp community population slowed the work of mining and processing new resources. The industrial and technological evolution of the starcorps was moving at one-tenth the pace that they grew at in Sol System Space. These factors discouraged BX01 from ordering a new starship, and it sustained the Berenberg as the most luxurious starship in its cluster.

Frank’s home aboard the Berenberg Starship was a 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom 2-story center tower apartment. It was a lavish suite just like all the other center tower apartments. BX01, and the Berenberg in particular, was the center of wealth and power in the starcorp community. All the housing inside this starship was well above prices found for comparable apartments on any other starship. This distinction was owed to the fact that BX01 was not a starcorp that did hands on manufacturing. BX01 was where inter-starcorp legislation, business deals and financing was done. Most of the people who lived here were the legal residents of another starcorp, just as Frank and Charlotte were the legal residents of HL02.

Charlotte took to her new life aboard the Berenberg Starship with a zeal. The social events in BX01 were far more extravagant than what she was accustomed to in HL02. Mingling with the richest and most powerful people within the starcorps was nearly intoxicating to her. What made these events even more entertaining for Charlotte was the fact that she attended them as a consort with an exclusive contract. This caused her to stand out among BX01’s hundreds of stunningly attractive professional female consorts with nonexclusive contracts. This was the common arrangement, by far, between professional consorts and the super wealthy denizens of BX01. Charlotte was ogled and admired by men and some women who knew of her situation. She endured dozens of propositions to either break into or replace her social contract with Frank, but she acted on none of them. Charlotte Lang was pleased to be where she was, the exclusive consort of the man behind the most ambitious business venture ever put together.

“Hey, Sweetie, how was your day?” Charlotte greeted as she crossed the living-room.

Charlotte did not wait for an answer before wrapping her arms around Frank’s neck and kissing him passionately. Frank reciprocated the kiss with far less enthusiasm. His mind was engaged with thoughts about ADM Lazaro’s report. Up until this day, war with the UEF was something that would happen in the future. The feeling of risk that came with this business venture increased as events moved closer to it happening. ADM Lazaro’s talk of no guarantees and the realization of the enormity of the gamble he was taking had Frank in a dread unlike any he had felt before.

“The basestars are ready,” Frank announced unenthusiastically after Charlotte disconnected from the kiss.

“They're invading?” Charlotte exclaimed with a look of excitement and with a questioning inflection.

“We've got another 6 months of testing and training to complete, but yeah.” Frank reported with a shrug and a nod of his head. “We now have all the pieces in place.”

Frank’s demure mood did not register with Charlotte at this moment. She was too busy being overwhelmed by the reality that this event was happening and her admiration of Frank for making it happen.

“Wow, you're really going to do it,” Charlotte mused with a look of amazement.

“Yeah, it’s really going to happen,” Frank agreed with an intonation of gloom in his voice.

With this statement, the morose in Frank’s voice broke through Charlotte’s amazed preoccupation. After noting this, she took a moment to give Frank an examining look.

“Why aren't you more excited?” Charlotte queried with an inflection of curiosity.

“I'm excited,” Frank returned unconvincingly. “I am. I'm just second guessing. What if I’m wrong? What if this whole thing is a big mistake?”

“Hey, you wouldn't have gotten the money if it wasn't a good plan,” Charlotte countered with insistence.

“Yeah, I thought the Astra 2 project was a good plan and look how that turned out.” Frank grumbled back with a shake of his head. “If this fails, it'll take me a decade to restore my credit rating.”

Charlotte could hear the worry in his voice and instantly became sympathetic to his fears. She stepped in closer to Frank, placed a hand on his chest and began to speak to this fear in a soft voice.

“It’s going to work, Frank. I know it.”

“Well, you're in the minority,” Frank mildly challenged. “Casinos across the starcorp community are putting up odds against me, 2 to 1 on average.”

“Don’t listen to them,” Charlotte insisted at near to a whisper. “They don't know anything.”

“Casinos don't set odds on a whim,” Frank corrected. “Most gamblers are betting against me.”

“It's going to work,” Charlotte pleasantly assured as she snuggled in close to Frank. “And do you want to know how I know?”

“How do you know that?” Frank questioned back with a sigh.

Charlotte leaned in against Frank, kissed him softly on the lips and then began to whisper with a teasing smile.

“Because I believe in you.”

Charlotte's playful good humor was too infectious for Frank to resist and he returned her smile.

“You're right, Babe,” Frank spoke in a capitulating manner. “Negative thoughts are not going to help. From now on I'm thinking like a winner,” Frank finished with a smile.

“Good,” Charlotte gleefully concurred. “So, how do we celebrate?

“You name it, Baby,” Frank stated as he gently pulled Charlotte into his embrace. “Where do you want to eat at tonight?” He questioned with a wide smile.

Eating out at one of the many 5-star restaurants in the BX01 cluster was a luxury that only the wealthy could afford to do regularly. Victuals that were rare, expensive to produce or costly to import was food that could only be found in top of the line restaurants. The trade in foodstuff was a major area of commerce between starcorps. No single starcorp could produce anything close to a full array of foodstuff, and all starcorps needed to produce an assortment of basic food staples in large quantities for the subsistence of their populace. These basic foods consumed time, money and space to the extent that they crowded most nonessential foods off the list of staples for growing and storage. Nonessential foodstuff was primarily produced by private enterprises and exported out to the starcorp community. These rare foods were almost exclusively sold to high end restaurants at prices equivalent to the supply and the demand. The restaurants that purchased these rare foodstuffs heavily advertised them as items on their menus, prepared them into sumptuous dishes and sold them for prices commensurate with the cost to acquire the provisions. For Frank and Charlotte, eating out at 5-star restaurants was the new norm of their existence.

“Where do you want eat?” Charlotte questioned back from behind a pleasant smile.

“How about Valentina's?” Frank returned after a moment of thought.

“Okay,” Charlotte agreed with a playful smile that was followed by a gentle kiss.

Frank returned the kiss with amorous passion, and Charlotte reciprocated by wrapping her arms around Frank's neck. After several seconds of kissing, Charlotte pushed back, pulled Frank's suit coat off his shoulders and let it fall to the floor. She then began unbuttoning his shirt.

“But I think we should work up an appetite first,” Charlotte playfully suggested from behind a wide smile.

A moment later, Frank scooped a giggling Charlotte up into his arms and raced away with her to the master bedroom.


	12. Sour Grapes

CMS02 was one of only 2 starcorps in possession of a planet that could be terraformed into an Earthlike planet with ease, relatively speaking. The CMS02 planet was the only one of the two with vast landscapes that were ideal for farming. For CMS02 the terraforming of Argyle 5 was its largest business endeavor. This planet had the potential of producing an enormous wealth of food that could be sold throughout the BX01 Starcorp System. The first sell would happen after the surface of the planet was terraformed into a biosphere fit for humans. The completion date of the terraforming was estimated to be close to a century into the future.

Breathing life into a lifeless planet had been an untested theory up until now. Mars was the first planet to be considered for this type of transformation, but the nutritional needs of Earth was too immediate for such a long-term project. Because of Earth’s critical need for food, housed habitat farms were constructed on Mars. This method brought about near immediate results at the expense of reaping only a minute fraction of the planet’s farming potential. Now free of the needs and wants of Earth, the starcorps could entertain these big ideas and long-term projects.

The Argyle 5 Terraforming Project was not leveraged into existence by private investors. This venture was wholly funded by Starcorp CMS02. The board of directors commissioned the project on the same day that a survey team validated the agricultural potential of the planet. It was beyond the ability of private investors to supersede this determination because the Argyle Star System was wholly owned by CMS02, and all business ventures had to be sanctioned by the government. This was the new reality within the starcorp community now that they were free of the confines of the Sol System.

No segment of, or celestial body within, the Sol System was the inherent property of a starcorp. Because of this fact, private investors were free to develop any unclaimed site within the Sol System. If this was done with the financial assistance of a starcorp, the enterprise was listed as a subsidiary business venture of that starcorp. If the project was wholly financed by private investors, it was listed as an independent starcorp. Now that starcorps were laying claim to whole star systems, they controlled all business ventures that took place within them. The best a private investor could do in this new reality was negotiate the terms of a lease agreement and the ratio of any profit-sharing.

The Argyle 5 Terraforming Project was too expensive for any one investor, and the profit potential of the planet made it immensely valuable. CMS02 had no incentive for entering into an agreement that divided out large portions of Argyle 5’s profits to business partners. It is for these 2 reasons that Ryan DeWitt did not hold most of the stock in this terraforming project. What Ryan DeWitt did hold was a large quantity of CMS02 public stock, and he was always looking to buy more. Ryan DeWitt considered CMS02 his best investment. Much of his wealth was comprised of public shares of CMS02 stock. His seat at CMS02’s Board of Directors table was owed to the proxies of less than 2% of the starcorp's population. Given that a board members seat was purchased by the weight of stock he or she commanded, this fact was evidence of the amount of stock that he or she personally held.

CMS02 was considered one of the best long-term investments in the starcorp community. This assessment was entirely due to Argyle 5. Barring some unforeseen calamity, Argyle 5 was expected to produce 50 to 70% of the food that the starcorp community would be eating a century from now. For Ryan DeWitt, CMS02 was the investment he valued the most. A need to protect this investment motivated Ryan DeWitt to live within CMS02 for a minimum of 8 months out of every year. This arrangement maintained his qualification to be a member of the CMS02 Board of Directors and insured his participation in all major decisions regarding the starcorp. In Ryan DeWitt's mind, all his other investments were secondary to the Argyle 5 Terraforming Project. This thinking was because all of his other securities combined did not match Argyle 5's potential return on his investment. His fealty to Argyle 5 was also due to the fact there was no other business venture out there of greater size to tempt him… until now.

“You’re now telling me that this Frank Weaver war-machine can actually win this war?” Ryan DeWitt roared toward his BX01 Legal Representative.

David Findlay bit his tongue with regards to Ryan DeWitt’s suggestion that he did not inform him of this possibility. He knew that Ryan DeWitt was angry about the news that the WDF02 War-Machine was close to completion, and that he was venting his anger at him. He also knew that he warned Ryan DeWitt of the possibility that this could happen, but he did not want to speak of this. David Findlay knew better than to contradict Ryan DeWitt when he was venting his rage.

“That is a possibility, Mr. DeWitt,” David Findlay responded with a nod of his head.

“Damn!” Ryan DeWitt growled as he commenced to pace the room. “That deal could have multiplied my investment 100 times over.”

David Findlay entered the Argyle Star System 2 days earlier. His spaceplane touched down inside CMS02's Exxon Starship 1 hour earlier, and he stepped into Ryan DeWitt's office 5 minutes earlier. David Findlay spent several weeks traveling here for the sole purpose of notifying Ryan DeWitt that the construction phase of WDF02 was completed, and that the war-machine was making preparation to invade the Sol System. This was news that Ryan DeWitt wanted to hear in person so that he could ask questions and get answers without weeks of delay in-between the two.

“Yes, Mr. DeWitt,” David Findlay agreed passively. “It will likely be the biggest business deal ever.”

“I know that,” Ryan DeWitt barked at David Findlay. “Don’t tell me things that I already know.”

David Findlay went silent in reaction to this harsh rebuke and watched as Ryan DeWitt returned to his pacing. After several seconds of silence, Ryan DeWitt came to a stop and turned his attention back towards David Findlay with a scowl on his face.

“How do I get in on this?” Ryan DeWitt fumed at David Findlay.

“Mr. DeWitt,” David Findlay spoke softly and with a shake of his head. “I think that ship has sailed.”

“Nothing has sailed,” Ryan DeWitt defiantly returned. “There’s always a way.”

With fury in his eyes, Ryan DeWitt turned his attention toward his personal attorney, Brian Hayes.

“Well, what do you have to say?” Ryan DeWitt challenged.

Brian Hayes was caught off guard by this question. He had no detail information on this business venture or the people funding and administrating it. Instinct told him that he needed to say something to assuage Ryan DeWitt’s anger. This opinion was formed out of a decade of experience as Ryan DeWitt’s Personal Attorney.

“We need to look at the investors and see if we can buy someone out,” Brian Hayes suggested pensively.

“Mr. DeWitt,” David Findlay spoke up with surprise in his voice. “Investors in this venture would be a fool to sell their shares for anything less than 50 times what they paid for them.”

Ryan DeWitt instantly recognized the truth of David Findlay’s words. His hands clenched into fists as he turned away with an angry frown. His eyes began to search the area in front of him as though he was trying to see something too small and fast to be easily seen. Subconsciously, Ryan DeWitt knew that it was his personal dislike for Frank Weaver that motivated him to dismiss his business plan. Had he bought into this business venture when he had the chance, he could be on the verge of multiplying his wealth several dozen times over. His present behavior was reflective of the blame that he was assigning to Frank Weaver for blinding him to the potential of this business proposal.

“You should have told me that there was this much interest in this deal,” Ryan DeWitt shouted at David Findlay as he turned toward him with an expression of rage.

“With respect, Mr. DeWitt,” David Findlay began in his defense. “There wasn't much interest when the plan was submitted to me. The whole thing just snowballed.”

“Your job is to stay on top of what's happening in BX01,” Ryan DeWitt hollered back.

“Yes sir,” David Findlay returned demurely.

Brian Hayes could see that Ryan DeWitt was going to continue berating him and David Findlay to relieve his frustration if something was not said to distract him from his brooding. After a moment of silence, he decided on a tact that he hoped would give Ryan DeWitt some consolation.

“This venture could still fail,” Brian Hayes proffered hopefully. “I mean, if they don't defeat the UEF this venture will be a financial catastrophe.”

Ryan DeWitt was not displeased to hear this, and David Findlay deduced this from his expression.

“The casinos are posting odds of 2 to 1 against,” David Findlay supported with a hint of enthusiasm. “I hear that the UEF has more than 17,000 spacefighters and 33 battlestars. This is an enormous space force. The WDF02 could lose this fight.”

Ryan DeWitt takes a moment to ponder this before dismissing the argument with a shake of his head.

“It still would have been worth the risk of a sizeable chunk of capital,” Ryan DeWitt grumbled to himself.

David Findlay chose not to speak to Ryan DeWitt’s response. He recalled, all to well, that he verbalized this same argument to Ryan DeWitt when he first presented this business venture proposal to him. His inclination toward submissiveness to Ryan DeWitt did not go so low that he could suggest that he missed that calculation.

“So, that's it?” Ryan DeWitt questioned after noting David Findlay's reluctance to speak any more on the subject.

After David Findlay shook his head and shrugged his shoulders in response to this question, Ryan DeWitt turned his attention toward Brian Hayes.

“I just do nothing and watch the largest business venture ever put together happen without me?”

Brian Hayes had no response for this question. He reacted with a nod of his head and a shrug from behind a befuddled expression.

“You're both useless,” Ryan DeWitt growled at them both. “I'm sitting on the sideline while most of my peers are participating in the greatest business venture ever. And when they defeat the UEF my status within the starcorp community is going to be massively reduced.”

“But they're not going to win,” Brian Hayes spoke up in a hurry.

“Of course, they're going to win,” Ryan DeWitt contradicted with vehemence. “They're not going to this expense just to lose. They've thought this through, and they've hired the best people. I know this because that is what I would do.”

Brian Hayes was humbled by this reproof from Ryan DeWitt and lowered his gaze in response. After a moment of silence, Ryan DeWitt turned his attention toward David Findlay with a huff.

“Well,” David Findlay began softly and after a moment of thought. “They might not have an easy time of it even if their war-machine does win.”

Ryan DeWitt took a moment to ponder this remark before speaking again.

“What does that mean?” Ryan DeWitt questioned with a mixed look of puzzlement and anger.

“The Tellurian Resistance Fighters,” David Findlay began with a look that said he was surprised they did not know this. “The TRF is vowing to wage a war of resistance against WDF02 and any state aligned with it. The TRF is determined to keep the starcorps out of the Sol System.”

“What can they do?” Brian Hayes questioned with a shake of his head. “I mean, they don’t have a space force. They’re just resistance fighters.”

“If the WDF02 wins, it will be the only space force in the Sol System,” David Findlay spoke as though it was a confession. “That’s part of the deal. But the WDF02 will have no presence on Earth or in Earth orbit. What happens on Earth will be managed by the government put in place by the Free Earth Legion and Rebel Warriors Army, and that’s going to take some time. The TRF could prove to be problematic if they live up to their threat.”

“And how is that a problem for WDF02?” Brian Hayes questioned back without delay.

“If the TRF can slow down or obstruct Earth’s development then WDF02 could find itself in a prolonged wait for its payoff,” David Findlay explained with some hesitancy. “This could be bad for the investors.”

Brian Hayes listened to this explanation from David Findlay and then began to ponder the likely size of this threat to WDF02. Ryan DeWitt was equally intrigued by this report, but his pondering was entertaining different thoughts.

“Is this Tellurian Resistance Fighters organization a large movement?” Ryan DeWitt questioned from behind a look of intrigue.

“It’s the largest resistance movement on Earth,” David Findlay answered with a nod.

This answer caused Ryan DeWitt to become more fascinated with this subject. He took a few seconds to weigh this information and formulate a new thought.

“So, the TRF has a legal claim to the Sol System?” Ryan DeWitt queried Brian Hayes with some anxiousness.

“I suppose their claim is just as valid as the Free Earth Legion and Rebel Warriors Army, but the TRF rejected Frank Weaver’s plan,” Brian Hayes responded with an expression that said the question was confusing to him.

“But they didn’t reject help from the starcorps,” Ryan DeWitt countered with insistence.

Brian Hayes understood the thinking behind Ryan DeWitt’s statement but not its significance. He shook his head to signify this misunderstanding before speaking.

“I don’t see how that changes things.”

Ryan DeWitt reacted to Brian Hayes statement with a hint of a smile before speaking with an enthusiastic voice.

“If we can get TRF to sign a contract with us, then we can challenge the WDF02’s claim to the Sol System.”

Brian Hayes and David Findlay were suddenly aware of where Ryan DeWitt’s thinking was going. They both gave this realization a moment of thought, and then Brian Hayes commenced with his response.

“Maybe, probably, but without a war-machine a claim means nothing.”

Ryan DeWitt was not fazed by this declaration. He had already considered this, and he was already contemplating a solution.

“Find this Tellurian Resistance Fighters Representative and get him here,” Ryan DeWitt directed with a sharp look toward David Findlay.

“What do I tell him?” A stunned David Findlay responded with a shrug.

“Tell him, I want to make a deal,” Ryan DeWitt answered with a smug smile.


	13. The Coming War

“Time/space threshold is breached. We are now operating in real-space,” Commander Engel called out to his commanding officer with a definitive inflection.

“What’s your read on the neighborhood, Lieutenant Karnack?” ADM Lazaro questioned his senior Combat Information Center officer.

Most of the 50 crew members in the command capsule were Combat Information Center officers or CIC’s. It was their function to locate and target threats. They, like most of the crews in all the capsules, wore 3D helmets that enabled them to view video images and computer graphics of locations outside of the basestar. Unlike the other crewmen who worked maintenance robots that serviced the interior of the spaceship, the CIC officers observed, analyzed and scanned the space exterior to the spaceship. With hand gestures they were able to expand, contract, rotate visuals and graphics of the space around them. This capability was available to all within the space capsules, but each crewmen’s duty was preassigned by their superiors.

“No sensor fields. No local com traffic, Admiral. We're alone,” LT Karnack responded to ADM Lazaro’s question.

ADM Lazaro had his attention fixed on the large circular 3D holographic monitor at the very center of the capsule. Its display showed graphics of the space around the basestar from a god’s eye view. A string of small flat monitors ringed the 3D hologram projector along the top. A few second after hearing LT Karnack’s report, ADM Lazaro turned his attention toward Lieutenant Commander Chang.

“Lieutenant Chang, where's Goliath?” ADM Lazaro questioned in a commanding tone of voice.

“The ship is detecting an energy burst originating 0.07 light-minutes off our 4 o'clock, 60 degrees low. The signature is consistent with a null-space breach. It has to be the Goliath.”

LCDR Chang's assessment was an obvious match for the Goliath Basestar. ADM Lazaro did not waste time assessing the report. He turned his attention toward CAPT Engel and commenced to speak a command in stern voice.

“Extend the sensor field out to combat-range and bring us alongside the Goliath.”

“Initiating sensor field,” CDR Engel reported as he tapped an icon button on his computer screen. “Adjusting trajectory now,” Commander Engel continued a moment later as he highlighted a spot on his monitor and instructed the computer to negotiate the turn with a tap of an icon button. “ETA is 268 minutes,” he read off the screen.

ADM Lazaro listened to the report from CDR Engel with a passive demeanor. Everything was going the way he expected. War-Machine WDF02 had just crossed the breach between null-space and real-space. The war-machine was now moving through Sol System space. After six months of training and three months of travel across interstellar space, Basestars Colossus and Goliath were on their way to an engagement with the UEF Space Force.

ADM Nathan Lazaro and his cockpit crew were situated in a round capsule large enough to accommodate 50 crewmen. Each crewman was seated in one of 50 acceleration pods, situated in three successive rings and built into the floor at 45-degree angles. In an emergency, each acceleration pod could be shut closed into airtight containers. No more than five feet separated the ceiling from the floor in some places and noticeably less in others. In affect the capsule was an airtight vault loaded with all the computers, instruments and control panels needed to maneuver the basestar and the maintenance bots that did the repairs when the bulk of the ship was uninhabitable. Colossus and Goliath had 500 of these control and escape capsules, crammed together into a multi-layered honeycomb configuration that patchworked the top center of the basestar’s shell.

This escape capsule setup had been the standard configuration since the construction of the first starship. It was done this way to give passengers and crew their best chance for survival if something catastrophic occurred during acceleration, deceleration and turns. Space battles were not considered when this design was first drawn up or engineered, but it was greatly considered when the first basestar, Orion, was constructed. Colossus and Goliath were engineered with improvements gleaned from Orion and its space battle with the United Front Pact Coalition Space Force, and they were on their way to put these enhancements to the test.

The first act in the war to come was expected to occur eight weeks out from this time. ADM Nathan Lazaro did not want to press for an immediate engagement with the UEF Space Force. The reason for this is because, he expected the UEF Fleet to be scattered about the inner orbit of the Sol System. His thinking was based on the knowledge that the UEF had no way of knowing when or where his 2 basestars would breach into Sol Space. Dividing and positioning their forces close to high value assets increased the probability that a sizeable force would be nearby to intercept the basestars regardless of when or where they appeared. ADM Lazaro calculated this tactic gave the UEF their best chance of winning this war by forcing them into a long series of battles against large UEF forces. He knew that this type of war would degrade his fighter force overtime and raise the risk of some damage befalling one or both of his basestars. He also knew that a stand-off engagement against the bulk of the UEF Space Force could cost him his basestars. It was for these two reasons that ADM Lazaro had a plan to avoid both scenarios.

“Com,” ADM Lazaro called out to the officer controlling the transmission of all ship-wide, ship-to-ship and broadcast communications. “Open a broadband radio transmission.”

After a few seconds of keystrokes to his computer console, the communications officer responded with, “broadband open.”

A moment after hearing this, ADM Lazaro activated his microphone and began to speak.

“My name is Admiral Nathan Lazaro, the commanding officer of War-Machine WDF02. I and my command are now situated in Sol Outer Orbit. My employers, the WDF02 Shareholders, have commissioned me with the task of imposing its dominion over the Sol Star System by force of arms. Because of that mandate and a wish to avoid the death and destruction that comes with armed conflict, my employers invite the civilian and military leaders of the UEF along with any contiguous and all subordinate authorities to surrender. No legal action will be undertaken by WDF02 or any BX01 member starcorp for any misdeed, past or present, performed by any Sol System government officials or military personnel with exception for any war crime committed over the course of this conflict. Furthermore, all requests for sanctuary and asylum will be given full hearings by WDF02 without penalty or prejudice. This invitation to surrender can be redeemed at any time, but a delay in doing so will have no effect on the operation of this war-machine. Military action will commence at our convenience and will continue until the task is completed. This message will repeat hourly for the duration of one Earth cycle. This is Admiral Nathan Lazaro, signing out.”

Four hours later, ADM Lazaro gave his final orders to his command capsule crew,

“Set course for Earth and commence deceleration.”

Behind the speaking of this command, ADM Lazaro settled into his escape pod, shut the hatch and slept for 3 hours.

_~~~~~Line Break~~~~~_

“I'll be downstairs,” Vincent informed his wife just before turning about and setting off for the exit at the rear of the pawn shop.

Cynthia Donovan was the 90-year-old wife of Vincent Donovan. Together they owned and operated Donovan's Pawnshop. Physically Cynthia Donovan looked to be in her late 40's to mid 50's. She was not an attractive woman, and there was nothing in her features that said she ever was what most people would call pretty. She was noticeably stout, and she maintained a serious demeanor. These attributes and esthetics were a match for her husband. He too was decidedly less than handsome. Vincent and Cynthia’s marriage looked more like a business arrangement. There was no sign of affection or hostility between them. There was only the day to day work to sustain the life they built.

“Okay,” Cynthia acknowledged dismissively just as Vincent opened the door at the rear of the shop.

After leaving the pawnshop, Vincent Donovan negotiated his way to the office area at the rear of the basement. Moving sluggishly, but with well-practiced movements, he climbed into the whole-body motion capture exoskeleton that was attached to the 8-foot-high mechanical arm. The heavy base of the robotic arm is what enabled it to hold the exoskeleton up off the floor. 

“Computer, run Windmill,” Vincent softly commanded into the microphone.

Seconds after speaking this command, Vincent found himself inside a large gray dimly lit virtual room. Standing in front of him in semi-rigid stances were four computer generated avatars of individuals who were interacting inside this same virtual world. Their features and proportions were based on human form, three males and one female. The proportions and colorations of the avatars gave them a digital animation look. From the perspective of these four avatars, Vincent looked like a digital animation too, but this image was different from his appearance in the Odysseus program. Vincent gave the group a brief pan with a dismayed expression, and then he said “Eucalyptus,” with a curt delivery.

The four individuals in front of Vincent—Watkins, Athena, Gabriel and Nero—responded to this one-word statement with “Thistle,” “Petunia,” “Dahlia,” and “Jasmine” spoken in turn. At the end of this exchange of code words, they relaxed into an informal stance.

“Where's Cyrus?” Vincent queried with a stern demeanor.

Vincent's query was motivated by the silence from his four lieutenants standing in front of him. When one or more of their number was not present when he arrived for these meetings, it was normal for one of the others to report that the missing avatar had to leave. This occurred several times in the past when a lieutenant had urgent business to act upon. The lieutenant made a brief appearance to explain the situation and left. This was the report that Vincent had expected to hear without prompting.

“He's late,” Watkins answered with a shrug.

Vincent took a moment to process this reply before responding to it.

“He didn’t come in?” Vincent spoke with a questioning inflection.

“No,” Watkins answered as the three other lieutenants shook their heads.

Vincent Donovan gave a fleeting thought to the idea of questioning his four lieutenants for more concerning the activities of Cyrus, but the folly of such an inquiry quickly registered in his brain. The members of this meeting were strangers to each other. Their anonymity existed by design and was strictly enforced. In effect these four individuals plus Cyrus were the Generals of a secret online underworld resistance community. Each general had its own team of lieutenants who were equally segregated from each other. It was only at the operational level that resistance members formed up into segregated cells. The members of a cell were familiar with each other, but each cell was kept ignorant of all other cells until a need to know made it necessary for them to meet. In this era resistance forces are intricate machines dependent upon a digital underworld labyrinth to secure their anonymity. Vincent Donovan was the Commander in Chief of one these underworld resistance movements.

“Report,” Vincent Donovan instructed Watkins behind a moment of reflection.

As the highest-ranking officer present, it was Watkins’ duty to speak first. Over the next few minutes, he summarized the successes and failures, expenditures and acquisitions accrued by operations within his sphere of control. He also reported on new developments within his theater of operation. At the instant it seemed clear to all that Watkins had completed his summary, he quickly spoke up with a new thought that he was eager to express.

“One of my lieutenants has made a friend in UEF High Command. He’s just a mid-level staffer, but my lieutenant claims this new friend knows the thinking of UEF High Command.”

Watkins knew that this subject was off topic for this meeting. From the perspective of the Tellurian Resistance, the war between the starcorps and the UEF was of no concerns of theirs. Because this was the accepted view, Watkins waited for Vincent to give him permission to continue speaking. This Vincent did with his continued silence.

“According to my lieutenant, the UEF didn’t bring the fleets to Earth to defend it. They brought them here to form them up into one massive battlegroup, and it's launching as we speak.”

The last part of Watkin’s statement was a surprise to everyone there. 

“You know this for a fact?” Vincent questioned with a scowl.

“I’ve gotten two reports that suggests the fleet is moving,” Watkins answered in a voice that suggested he was comfortable with this answer.

The WDF02 War-Machine entered the outer perimeter of the Sol System four weeks earlier. This was information known to all within the Solar System. It was suspected by all who were outside of UEF High Command that the Spacer war-machine would come in fast, split up and go after multiple targets using hit and run tactics. It was commonly believed that this would give the starcorp war-machine its best chance for success, but this was not what it was doing. As soon as WDF02 entered the system, it set itself on a trajectory straight for Earth and began decelerating. Currently, the estimated date of arrival to Earth Space was ten weeks out from this moment. This turn of events had all believing that UEF High Command had collected 90% of its space force into Earth orbit to defend the planet. The report that the UEF Fleet was leaving Earth space was a contradiction of this thinking.

Sending the fleet out to engage with WDF02 meant running the risk of the 2 basestars jumping behind the battlegroup and attacking an undefended Earth. This was the consensus of Sol’s populace. The star-drive that the starcorps possessed was believed to be this war-machine's greatest advantage over the UEF Fleet. Consequently, everyone outside of UEF Space Force High Command thought that waiting for the WDF02 basestars to slow down come to them was their only option. Vincent and his Generals were included in this thinking. Nero was the first to vocalize his confusion with the High Command’s decision to send the fleet out to intercept the WDF02 basestars.

“I don't get it,” Nero declared with a shake of his head and a toss of his hands. “Why are they doing that?”

Watkins understood Nero’s question was motivated by the thinking that the WDF02 war-machine would see them coming and go to their star-drives. It was a supposition he was continually entertaining and had no answer for.

“The UEF High Command doesn’t seem to be worried about this starcorp war-machine getting behind them,” Watkins answered with a shrug.

Everyone took a pause to ponder why High Command would be so unconcerned about this possibility. Vincent looked to be giving it more thought than the others.

“It makes no sense,” Gabriel blurted out after a time. “With 90% of the fleet out in open space, there’s next to nothing between the Spacers and every spaceport and habitat in the solar system.”

Watkins, Athena and Nero had nothing in mind to respond to this declaration. Vincent gave the remark a moment of thought before coming to an idea that supported the UEF’s decision.

“They're not going to defend them,” Vincent returned as though he was thinking out loud. “They don't have to.”

Vincent hesitated behind this statement to give everyone a knowing look. He understood now, and he was pleased with himself for figuring it out.

“Everything manmade in space moves,” Vincent continued as he reflected upon his summation. “They can just leave.”

Nero, Athena and Gabriel were confused by this statement, but Watkins came to a gradual understanding.

“That’s right,” Watkins agreed after a thought. “Why go after habitats and small battlegroups when they can just run away?”

“But they can’t get away,” Nero disputed. “The Spacers have the star-drive.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Vincent corrected. “The star-drive produces an energy burst. They lose the element of surprise when they use it. On top of that, when they come back into real-space they’re moving too fast. It would take them 20 hours at maximum thrust to stop or reverse their trajectory. Any space based UEF assets would be long gone before they could initiate a pursuit trajectory.”

“And what about non-manmade UEF assets?” Athena challenged with a look of puzzlement.

“The Spacers didn’t come here to bombard planets and asteroids,” Vincent asserted. “Earth isn’t the target. It’s the prize. If the Spacers want Sol, they have to destroy the UEF Fleet.”

After Earth’s battle with the starcorps 60 years earlier, the UEF began designing and constructing a space force using the lessons they learned from that conflict. The most significant lesson learned was the need for a fleet of battlestars. Essentially, this was a reflex response to the capability of starcorp starfighters. Constructing basestars, starfighters and star-drive technology required an investment in money, time and research that the UEF had yet to acquire in the necessary abundance. However, battlestars were just heavily armed and armored spaceships. The design function of the battlestar was to be durable, produce a sensor field 100 times greater than a spacefighter, control and direct nearby support crafts and produce a full surround of offensive and defensive fire equivalent to 200 spacefighters. Battlestars were also capable of accelerating10 times faster than a basestar, minimum. In effect, battlestars were moving fortresses, artillery and anti-aircraft brigades and long-range space traffic control stations constructed into a single package.

“Can the UEF Fleet win in a head on fight with the Spacers?” Athena questioned from behind a look of bewilderment.

“Yes, it can,” Vincent assessed out loud. “The UEF Space Force has a 30 to 1 advantage.”

“What about their starfighters?” Nero questioned cautiously. “The UEF spacefighters are no match for them.”

“The UEF have battlestars this time,” Vincent returned without hesitation. “They can produce a weight of fire 50 times that of a starfighter, and that's without spacefighters screening for them.”

“But what about the basestars?” Gabriel spoke in a sudden outburst.

“Two basestars, even with full complements of starfighters, don't stand a chance in a head on fight against 17,000 spacefighters and 33 battlestars,” Vincent insisted with finality.

Watkins, Athena, Gabriel and Nero accepted this answer from behind looks that said they still did not understand. Vincent took a moment to note their confusion and then commenced to qualify his answer.

“In a space battle, the Spacers will have to slow down. And when their speed goes down below jump speed, they won’t be able to get back up to it without a fight. The basestars will be too busy evading multiple attacks. When the battle starts it’ll simply come down to attrition.”

“And when the UEF takes out the basestars, the war is over,” Watkins concurred with a definitive nod. 

Vincent took a moment to think about this a little more, and then he spoke his final thought on the subject.

“Slowing down is the biggest mistake the Spacers can make.”

Watkins, Gabriel, Nero and Athena took a pause to reach this conclusion in their own thoughts. Vincent gave them a final few seconds to think about it, and then he focused his attention on Athena and onto a new topic.

“Athena, report.”

After a hesitation to arrange her thoughts, Athena commenced to expound on the disposition of the people and territory under her command. She was halfway through her report when a male avatar suddenly materialized within the room. The avatar known to belong to Cyrus was quickly recognized by all there. All eyes turned toward the Cyrus avatar. An instant after capturing their full attentions, that avatar stepped forward to be recognized.

“Mulberry,” the avatar spoke in a hurry to dismiss the code word formality.

Vincent took a moment to be suspicious of his late arrival. At the end of this moment he accepted the avatar as Cyrus.

“You're late,” Vincent challenged sternly. “Why?”

“Elijah, he’s back,” Cyrus reported with a look of excitement. “He's in Sol Outer Orbit aboard a starcorp surveillance spaceship.”

Elijah Cromwell was one of Cyrus’ lieutenants. In this position on Earth, it was Elijah’s job to relay orders from Cyrus to field commanders and to orchestrate the logistics needed to perform tasks. This job required him to expose a limited amount of his identity to field commanders and support team leaders, but this information never included his true name. Only members within cells knew the true names of each other. The command structure above the cells was held together by an intricate security system made up of passwords, code phrases, encryption keys, and interconnecting puzzle pieces that identified members to each other. These methods were used to sustain the line of communication from the High Command down to the field commanders while keeping their true identities a secret. This system insured that no single member could bring down the entire the resistance, or any large portion of it.

On rare occasions, resistance fighters of Elijah Cromwell's rank were called upon to appear at one of these High Command meetings. His or her presence there would be to answer questions about the teams under their control. It was normal to keep secret the identity of the Tellurian Resistance Fighter who was answering these questions. That is why the High Command’s knowledge of Elijah Cromwell’s true name was unique. Security protocol mandated that Elijah’s identity be kept hidden behind a code name, but this formality was not needed with Elijah Cromwell. His given name was well known to the Tellurian High Command. Elijah Cromwell was the Tellurian Resistance Fighter chosen to speak to the leaders of the starcorps on their behalf. His true name had to be given to the starcorps, and this fact negated any need to keep it hidden from Tellurian High Command.

“When did he arrive?” Vincent asked with an intrigued expression.

“His message came in half an hour ago,” Cyrus returned without hesitation. “That's why I was late.”

Vincent took a second to absorb this answer. At the end of this time his curiosity came into full bloom and he began to give voice to what it produced.

“And why is he here?”

“He’s got an offer,” Cyrus reported with a nod of his head. “Computer, upload the DeWitt contract. Enter,” he instructed as he held up his palm.

An instant after speaking the word enter, a slim stack of papers materialized in Cyrus’ hand. Vincent took a moment to think about what he had just heard and seen. At the end of this time, he raised up the palm of his hand. The contract in Cyrus’ hand glowed in response to this gesture. After a couple of seconds, the glowing stopped, and a duplicate contract materialized in Vincent's hand. Watkins, Athena and Gabriel repeated this action and acquired duplicates of the contract.

“What's in the contract?” Vincent queried as he looked down at the papers in his hand.

“It's an offer from a group of starcorp investors,” Cyrus returned with an intonation of eagerness. “They want to make a separate deal with us, the Tellurian Resistance.” 

When Vincent closed his hand into a fist, the papers disappeared. The word ‘SAVED' appeared in mid-air above his fist and then faded away a few seconds later. The act of clenching his hand into a fist saved the document to Vincent's hard drive. Watkins, Athena and Gabriel followed Vincent's lead and saved the document to their hard drives.

“What are they offering?” Vincent questioned sharply and with a frown.

“Unfettered operational control of the Sol System in exchange for a trade deal,” Cyrus explained with a hint of a grin.

Vincent and his lieutenants, minus Cyrus, were perplexed by this answer. None of them could imagine why they would make a separate deal with a group of starcorp investors. They were already in a rage over the deal that the Free Earth Legion and the Rebel Warrior Army went into with War-Machine WDF02.

“This is ridiculous,” Vincent bellowed. “Why would I even entertain this?”

“You should read the offer, Red Rabbit,” Cyrus urged with delicacy.

“I want to keep the starcorps out of the Sol System,” Vincent rifled back at his lieutenant. “Why would I go into a deal that will bring more of them here?”

“What he’s offering is a plan that will keep the starcorps out,” Cyrus responded as he bobbed his head in agreement.

Vincent took a moment to consider this last statement before speaking again.

“How does this DeWitt person plan to do that?” Vincent questioned in a voice laced with doubt.

“This WDF02 war-machine that’s here now is owned by a group of investors,” Cyrus commenced to lecture with an earnest delivery. “The starcorps, in general, don’t want anything to do with us. We’re just a headache—an expense. The starcorp leaderships do not want to come back to Sol. The investors who own that war-machine out there, they’re here for money. This is all about money for them. Politics, ideology, national identity means nothing to these people. They’ve got goods that they want to sell to us. And we’ve got something they want, billions of people. They’re workforce isn’t growing fast enough to keep up with the opportunities unfolding in front of them. WDF02 wants to establish a trade pipeline with Earth that will include access to our workforce. If this happens, they’ll get back their investment a thousand-fold.”

“That sounds like a good reason for the starcorps to come here and to stay,” Vincent spoke with a challenging intonation.

“Ryan DeWitt wants to setup the Tellurian Resistance as the sole governing authority in the Sol System, with its own space force and with no official starcorp presence of any kind.”

Cyrus paused after speaking these words to give weight to that statement.

“No starcorp presence,” Cyrus reiterated with a soft emphasis to each word.

Once again, Cyrus paused to give Vincent time to consider what he had just said. At the end of this pause, he began to speak again in clearly enunciated speech.

“In return DeWitt and his partners want compensation for their expenses multiplied by 200. The payout for that can be made in installments over the next 30 to 50 years. They also want an agreement that gives them access to our markets to the exclusion of all other starcorps or any entity within a starcorp.”

The words “compensation for their expenses” and “installments over the next 30 to 50 years” captured Vincent’s interest. These phrases started him to wondering why these expenses were going to be so great that it would take 30 years to pay it off.

“Is this DeWitt and his partners planning on doing some kind of hostile takeover of that war-machine out there?” Vincent queried with a perplexed facial expression.

“No,” Cyrus returned with a shake of his head.

“So, what expenses are we talking about?” Athena challenged gruffly.

“As part of the agreement,” Cyrus began speaking with a hesitant delivery. “Ryan DeWitt and his partners plan to force War-Machine WDF02 out of the system.”

Vincent, Athena and Nero were momentarily stunned by this explanation. The idea of the starcorps at war with each other was never considered by either of them, and the suggestion that they would go to war with each other had their minds working to catch up with the idea. Watkins was the only one of the four to hear this and not be taken aback. His mind was still focused on the one situation that he believed made this proposal irrelevant. After a moment of silence Watkins began speaking his thought.

“This proposal is a waste of time,” Watkins challenged with a shrug of amazement. “The Spacers have already lost. The UEF Space Force is going to destroy this WD war-machine that’s out there now, and this new group of starcorp investors aren’t likely to do any better.”

Vincent, Nero and Athena were stymied by this statement. Watkins’ argument was quick to make sense in their minds, and they looked to Cyrus for a counter argument.

“Elijah thinks otherwise,” Cyrus returned in a solemn voice.

Cyrus paused to give weight to those words. He used this time to pan the faces in front of him and to note that he had their attentions. At the end of this pause he began speaking with an inflection of finality in his voice.

“According to Elijah, this WDF02 war-machine is not here to lose.”


	14. Engage and Destroy

“This is Admiral Wyatt Yukio, commanding officer of the UEF Space Force 1st Fleet. If the two starcorp basestars continue their present trajectory and at their present rate of acceleration, we will be within lethal range of both in 7 hours and 19 minutes. By our estimation the starcorp basestars should achieve jump speed in half that time, give or take 20 minutes. It is my belief that one or both basestars will not engage their star-drives when this happens. I am basing this belief on the calculation that the basestars are accelerating at a rate far below their potential. If I am right, a space battle is imminent. Starting now, I will be sending status report updates on the half hour if feasible. This is Admiral Wyatt Yukio, commanding officer of the UEF Space Force 1st Fleet. Out.”

ADM Wyatt Yukio recorded this video message from his acceleration pod inside the command capsule of the Voltaire Battlestar. Because of their closing proximity to the starcorp basestars, Goliath and Colossus, all personnel aboard the Voltaire and within the entire fleet were at their battle stations. ADM Yukio issued the order for all ship's crews to assume this posture because they were close enough for things to change quickly. If the starcorp basestars shut down their thrusters or reversed them, the length of time before lethal range could be cut in half. ADM Yukio did not want his crews to be in the middle of a call to battle stations during an attack.

The WDF02 Basestars turned away from a head-on collision with the UEF Space Force 1st Fleet and began accelerating a dozen hours earlier. Their new trajectory was arching them away from Earth, and if they continued this trajectory long enough it would take them out of the solar system. In response to this turn, the UEF’s 1st Fleet corrected its trajectory to intercept them.

ADM Lawrence Moseley was the theater wide commander for the upcoming confrontation with War-Machine WDF02. The entire UEF Space Force was under his control. ADM Wyatt Yukio was just one of Mosely’s 4 Admirals on active duty who were under the direction of ADM Moseley. It was ADM Yukio’s task to engage with the invading starcorp war-machine beyond Earth Space and destroy it. When he was given this task, ADM Yukio was anticipating a clash of forces culminating into a massive firefight in space. He deliberately paced the deceleration of his fleet so that their contact with the UEF war-machine would occur when both forces were moving slow enough to clench into a continuous stationary battle. It was Yukio’s estimation that an engagement of this type would decimate the bulk of the Spacers starfighter force and destroy or cripple their two basestars within a few hours. This new trajectory of the WDF02 war-machine now had him questioning if he would ever get close enough to engage with the two invading basestars. He suspected that the size of his battlegroup scared the Spacers away from a head-on stationary firefight and into a highspeed run and gun dogfight.

To defeat the starcorp war-machine, ADM Yukio was given the bulk of the UEF Space Force. This consisted of 33 battlestars and 17,083 space-fighters. From a distance far enough away for a video display to encompass the entire battlegroup, the individual ships were too tiny to see. The battlegroup moved in a formation characteristic of an elongated oval. The battlestars were positioned along the perimeter of this oval. The Flagship Battlestar, Voltaire, was situated at the leading edge of the oval. The spacefighters were evenly distributed within the interior. This formation was being used to maximize the strengths and minimize the weaknesses of the battlegroup.

On average, battlestars were ten times the mass of an early 21st century aircraft carrier. Despite their size, battlestars were too small to hold hundreds of spacefighters, internally or externally. There was also the problem of diminished combat effectiveness. Building hangars and platforms for even a sizeable number of spacefighters would require the removal of rail-gun batteries, directed energy cannons, targeting sensors, and their supporting power plants and ordinance sheds. The primary purpose of a battlestar was to be a massive weapons platform. Their firepower was the equivalent of 200 spacefighters, and each railgun could be individually directed. Because of this immense power, battlestars were never used as a bulk spacefighter carrier, and the capability of spacefighters made that an unnecessary addition.

Spacefighters were equivalent in size to an early 21st century transnational airliner. They provide living arrangements for small crews that could sustain them for a minimum of 3 months. By traveling in the company of a battlestar, life aboard a spacefighter could be sustained indefinitely. The spacefighter and the battlestar had a symbiotic relationship. Large numbers of spacefighters served as escorts and fighter screens for battlestars, and the battlestars served as supply spaceships, powerful supporting weapons platforms and long-range sensor and targeting systems. Together, the battlestar and spacefighter enhanced each other's firepower and quadrupled the force they would project separately.

The location of the battlestars along the perimeter of their sphere formation enabled them to extend their sensor fields out for maximum effect. The spacefighters were positioned to provide defense for the battlestars and to reinforce any weak spots that developed on the perimeter. The sensor fields being projected by the battlestars and the spacefighters overlapped with their neighbors. This arrangement interlinked their computers and allowed for instantaneous communications between them.

The UEF 1st Fleet was positioned for battle, and all systems and personnel were still at the ready 2 hours and 43 minutes after ADM Yukio sent out his first status report. It was at this moment that the 2 starcorp basestars disappeared from their viewing screens.

“They were there, and then they were gone,” LCDR Gleeson, the senior officer monitoring the space in front of the fleet, reported.

“Sensors are detecting 2 energy bursts, Admiral,” LCDR Mendelsohn, the officer monitoring the passive sensors, yelled out. “The signatures are consistent with star-drive technology.”

This was all superfluous information for ADM Yukio. He suspected that the basestars had jumped into null space when LCDR Mendelsohn reported the 2 energy bursts. The disappearance of the two specs of light that represented the thrusters of the basestars was confirmation. ADM Yukio was flummoxed by this event. He was convinced that at least one basestar and probably both would stay and engage with his battlegroup along their perimeter. The disappearance of both basestars had his mind fumbling with ideas on how to react. After several seconds of thought, he came to a decision.

“This is Admiral Yukio to the fleet, shut down thrusters and extend sensor fields by 50%.”

This order was the only action ADM Yukio could think to do under the circumstance. By his understanding, the two basestars had escaped his grasp. He had no way of following them, and he calculated that their trajectory would take them further out into the orbit of Sol or out of the system altogether. Shutting down their thrusters and extending their sensor fields seemed to be the only sensible reaction. He rationalized that the basestars could have launched something towards them that they would detect when it entered their sensor field. They needed only to continue falling on the same trajectory and wait. They were 32 minutes into this wait when a second energy burst washed over them.

“Admiral, we've just passed through an energy burst,” LCDR Mendelsohn reported.

“Where?” ADM Yukio called out with a startled inflection.

“Calculating,” LCDR Mendelsohn immediately responded while studying the display in his helmet monitor.

It took the computer mere seconds to respond to the request for the energy burst's point of origin.

“It's straight ahead,” LCDR Mendelsohn reported with amazement in his tone. “The same location as the first 2 energy bursts.” 

ADM Yukio turned his attention to the officer examining video imaging of the space in front of his fleet.

“Gleeson, is it a basestar?”

Lieutenant Commander Gleeson did not have an answer for that question. He knew what area of space to search, but the objects that he was trying to get a visual on was proving to be difficult to see against the backdrop of space. This difficulty suggested to him that the basestars either had their thruster’s shutdown or were not there.

“Lieutenant,” ADM Yukio bellowed at LCDR Gleeson. “Is it one of the 2 basestars?”

LCDR Gleeson was an instant away from replying to that question with a non-answer answer when the sensor alarm began blaring.

“We've just been enveloped by a sensor field,” LCDR Mendelsohn yelled out to the command capsule crew.

“From where?” ADM Yukio yelled back at LCDR Mendelsohn.

“It's in front of us,” LCDR Mendelsohn yelled out as he studied his helmet display monitor and waited for the computer to pinpoint the center of the sensor field.

By clocking the moment that the sensor field enveloped each spaceship in the battlegroup, the computer could use that data to measure the curvature of the field and calculate the location of its center. It took the computer 4 seconds to complete this calculation. The information it produced gave LCDR Gleeson a much smaller area of space to examine.

“I found it,” LCDR Gleeson called out with relief in his voice. “I have a visual on one basestar.”

“Put it on the large screen,” ADM Yukio commanded.

An instant later, a tiny image of a single basestar within a black backdrop of space was barely visible on the large monitor at the center of the capsule. It took ADM Yukio seconds to deduce that the basestar was generating a sensor field 20 times greater than what his battlestar could produce. He also deduced that the basestar was coming toward them.

“What happened to the other one?” LCDR Mendelsohn pondered out loud.

“They must have split up,” Captain Jared Patel asserted with assurance.

ADM Yukio agreed with his second in command, but he was not inclined to believe the second basestar left the vicinity.

“It's coming toward us,” LCDR Gleeson announced with an amazed inflection. “How is it doing that?”

It took ADM Yukio an instant to understand the factor that he had not allowed for. It was not only possible to make course changes in null space, it was possible to make sharp changes in direction. This was the explanation for everything the basestars had done. ADM Yukio realized at that moment that the basestar was coming to do battle. What he did not know was the speed of its approach. This was information he would discover when the basestar crossed into the sensor fields of his battlegroup. An instant after he came to these conclusions, ADM Yukio activated his intercom and set it to communicate with the entire fleet.

“This is Admiral Yukio to fleet, power up all weapon systems.”

_~~~~~Line Break~~~~~_

The UEF Space Force 1st Fleet was ten hours away from lethal-range with War-Machine WDF02 when ADM Nathan Lazaro ordered his two basestars to battle stations. Because of the enormous size of Colossus and Goliath, 33 and 29 miles in diameter, it took close to two hours for their personnel to secure the habitat and assume their stations inside their control and escape capsules. ADM Lazaro was not anticipating that they would be engaged in combat at the end of the two hours, but he was planning to go into battle a few hours later. In the interim, ADM Lazaro wanted to prepare his forces for what was to come. 

The UEF Fleet was 4 hours and 30 minutes away from lethal range when ADM Lazaro gave the order for Colossus and Goliath to activate their temporal projectors. The two basestars had reached jump speed 27 minutes earlier, but this was the moment that ADM Lazaro calculated to be right for this action.

“We are at NS plus 9-7,” LCDR Cooper called out the basestar’s time dilation so that all in the command capsule could hear.

“Start timer,” ADM Lazaro ordered without hesitation. “Fighter pilots to their starfighters,” he continued in the same breath.”

“Clock is running,” CAPT Fazal returned with equal swiftness.

“Goliath is at sync and maneuvering to our aft,” Lieutenant Commander Perez followed in a loud voice.

“Commence the turn,” ADM Lazaro called out to Lieutenant Commander Hoffman.

Travel through null space was an inexact process. The measurements of real distances and real time that a spaceship traversed while in null space could only be approximated. The words plus and minus were used to signify when the spacecraft was moving forward and back in time. The act of entering null space always brought the spacecraft up to the speed of light. Negative numbers meant that time was being manipulated to send the spacecraft backward in real-time as it moves forward through real space. This had the effect of moving the spacecraft faster than the speed of light. The larger the negative number, the faster it was moving. The same was true in reverse for positive numbers. The act of entering null space propelled the spacecraft forward at the speed of light. Positive numbers meant that time was being manipulated to move the spacecraft faster than real-time as it is moving forward through real space. This had the effect of moving the spacecraft slower than the speed of light while inside null space. The larger the number, the further back from light speed the spacecraft is moving. Single digits meant the spacecraft was moving just below the speed of light. Triple digits meant the spacecraft was traveling at a speed that was barely noticeable, and anything above 150 meant that the movement was too infinitesimal to be seen.

The UEF had a vague understanding of how the starcorp star-drive worked despite their inability to duplicate the science. What the UEF scientists and engineers did not know and had not considered was that a spacecraft in null space had the capability of steering itself through null space.

Null space had the feel of a fluid universe that had currents, ebbs and flows. These fluid forces were being generated by real-space gravity. The extent of the universe that a spacecraft in null space could sense and measure onto a graph was dependent upon the size of the temporal sphere it was generating. When a spacecraft was moving back in time, it was creating a temporal sphere greater than the distance that light could travel within a second. Large real-space gravity wells that exist within that distance become discernable, and the small ones became less so. When a spacecraft is moving forward in time, it creates a temporal sphere smaller than the distance that light can travel within a second, and its feel for large distant real-space gravity wells begin to fall away into the distance. Nearby tiny gravity fields become more discernable. This information made it possible for spacecrafts in null-space to know where they were in relationship to the real-space around them. Experience taught starcorp spaceship captains that they needed only to adjust the polar axis of the temporal field to turn the spacecraft in null and in real space. This act always added a sizeable fraction of time to the null space jump and was an added complication to the process of measuring the real space distances and time traveled.

“Thirty seconds,” CAPT Fazal shouted.

Commander Fazal was calling out the time that was counting down in the corner of his helmet display monitor. When the timer hit one minute he called out “60 seconds.”

“Turn is completed,” LCDR Hoffman reported more than a minute after receiving the order. “Detecting the UEF magnetic signature directly ahead.”

ADM Lazaro said nothing. He was waiting for a second report that came nearly a minute later.

“Goliath is at our aft,” LCDR Perez shouted out. “Our fields are synced,” he reported after a pause.

The syncing of temporal fields was not a difficult maneuver to effect. Two or more spacecrafts needed only to get close enough in space and time for their temporal fields to overlap. Once this had occurred one of the two computers managing the temporal fields needed only to adjust its dilation up or down until the two field were a match. Once they were matched the temporal field could be used as a communication bridge to link the computers within the spaceships. In this configuration, null-space egresses of two or more spaceships could be coordinated to resemble a single event. The dangerous part of this operation was the moment of egress. Two or more spaceships egressing in the same vicinity had to be careful that their speeds were a match, and their trajectories were aligned to avoid a collision.

“Linking with the Goliath’s computer—now.”

At the instant LCDR Perez called out his report that the Colossus and Goliath were linked by their computers, ADM Lazaro initiated a live video connection between himself and the Commander of the Goliath. Commander Craig Chaffin’s image popped up on the large monitor at the center of the capsule.

“Goliath, Colossus has control,” ADM Lazaro declared without fanfare.

Commander Chaffin relayed that message to the officer managing Goliath’s temporal field projector and then reported back his confirmation that Colossus had control. This return report told ADM Lazaro that he was clear to go ahead with the next step. CAPT Fazal called out 90 seconds an instant before ADM Lazaro spoke again.

“Shut down both temporal field projectors now.”

The temporal field around the Colossus and Goliath Battlestars dissolved away simultaneously. A few seconds later the 2 basestars exploded into real space in visual range of each other with the appearance of being a single event by distant sensor readings. Their fall through real space was one behind the other. Their speeds were near to identical and their trajectories had them falling straight at the UEF Fleet.

Immediately after entering real-space, ADM Lazaro had the Colossus extend its sensor field out to maximum range. With the habitat, thrusters and weapon systems powered down, this extended the sensor 30% beyond what it would have been with these systems active. A second after giving that order, ADM Lazaro instructed the Goliath to start falling back. Thirty seconds later, the distance between Colossus and Goliath had doubled. Two minutes later the distance between the two basestars was ten times that. By this time, the UEF Fleet was enveloped by the sensor field of Colossus. This sensor field data was being shared with Goliath.

“The computer is counting 33 vessels with enough mass to be battlestars and 17,083 vessels in the spacefighter range,” LCDR Cooper reported with some excitement in his voice.

“How long to lethal-range?” ADM Lazaro sharply queried LCDR Perez.

“Seven minutes and change…”

ADM Lazaro had no orders for that moment. He did not want to give the UEF Fleet anything to react to ahead of what the data from their own sensors might provoke them into doing. And he suspected that the perimeter of the UEF Fleet’s sensor field was roughly 2 minutes away at the speeds they were moving toward each other.

“Sensor field,” Commander Fazal yelled out just short of 2 minutes later. “We’re in their aura.”

Aura was the term used by captains and crews of spaceships to signify that they were inside another spaceship’s sensor field. This report from CAPT Fazal was the signal ADM Lazaro was waiting for.

Moments after hearing this report, ADM Lazaro ordered LCDR Hoffman to steer the Colossus onto a trajectory that would keep it to the right of the UEF Fleet and just outside of lethal range as it passed. This order did not consider the possibility of the UEF Fleet altering its trajectory to compensate because ADM Lazaro was expecting this. Fifteen seconds later, this expectation came into being with visible evidence that the UEF Fleet was turning toward Colossus.

It took the Colossus 35 seconds to complete this change in trajectory. At the end of this time, the basestar turned its broad underside toward the UEF Fleet and fired off 2,000 railgun warheads toward the right rear of the UEF formation. This took just under 20 seconds to complete, and then the basestar began launching starfighters. The maneuver, volley and launch were executed with deliberate speed. Within 30 seconds time span 200 starfighters were moving toward the right rear of the UEF Fleet at a speed faster than Colossus by half and slower than the volley in front of them by a third. The UEF spacefighters reacted to this starfighter launch the quickest. Half of the UEF spacefighters began reducing their speeds and shifting toward the right rear. They were nearly ten seconds into this adjustment and down from their original speed by one-eighth when the Goliath suddenly appeared on the UEF Fleet’s sensor field display monitor. This sighting was followed by a volley of 2,000 rail-gun warheads from the basestar. A few seconds behind the volley, 200 Goliath starfighters appeared on the UEF Fleet's sensor field display monitors.

The volley of rail-gun warheads were less than a minute away from the UEF Fleet and were closing in from straight ahead. The 200 starfighters were 3 minutes away and were moving at a speed that was faster than the Goliath by three-quarters. The Goliath was more than 7 minutes away and was in the middle of deviating its trajectory to the left of the UEF Fleet. A few seconds later, the UEF Fleet began discharging their directed energy cannons at the onslaught of warheads coming toward the front and the right rear of their formation. Instantly, the energy beams began destroying warheads in rapid succession. The beams detonated the warheads upon contact, and the radiation burst this produced shrouded a sizeable chunk of space on all sensor field display monitors imaging the area. This effect lasted for several seconds and dissipated quickly. This created a problem for weapons systems but not by much. The targeting computers paid little attention to warheads that were not on an impact trajectory and maintained a projected trajectory of those that were. A few seconds later, a few dozen warheads across a 5 second interval began bursting apart and flying off onto 4 separate trajectories. Each piece was a separate warhead that detonated 5 seconds after dispersal. The resulting disruption in sensor data complicated the work of the UEF Fleet’s targeting computers ten-fold, but this was still not enough to panic the battlegroup. The Fleet held its formation and continued to destroy all warheads on a collision trajectory with a battlestar or a spacefighter. This composure held until the moment that the tail end of both volleys came to within 3 seconds of impact, lethal range. The defense systems of the fleet were still tracking the warheads from the basestars without fail, but the newly fired warheads from the starfighters were a complication that the targeting computers of the UEF Fleet knew they would not be able to fully manage.

_~~~~~Line Break~~~~~_

“Evade! Evade!” ADM Yukio yelled out to the Voltaire Battlestar pilot.

ADM Yukio's order to evade was a reaction to the warning message blaring out from his spaceship’s computer, “MULTIPLE IMPACTS IMMENIENT!” ADM Yukio understood that the computer was saying it could no longer fend off this attack using the Directed Energy Defense System alone. This message was not unexpected. It was clear to him from the beginning that the orchestration of the attack was designed to overwhelm the defense systems of the Fleet to a massive degree. Holding their line of fall until the last moment gave their defensive weaponry time to destroy the maximum number of incoming warheads that it could before resorting to evasive maneuvers. By the time of the alarm, the bulk of the barrage from the basestars was falling through and behind the UEF Fleet and self-detonating in empty space. There was no chance of the Fleet being impacted by them. The threat at this moment were the starfighters and the barrage they were launching at this moment.

The starfighters of the Colossus and Goliath basestars were 20 times the size of a spacefighter and equally as much more powerful. Despite their large size, starfighters were built for a single occupant, and had no living quarters. A cockpit and an escape pod were the only areas within starfighters that were constructed for human occupation. Starfighters were large robotic spacecrafts that were engineered to mimic the motions of the pilot. The cockpit of a starfighter was a spherical zero-gravity chamber with a display monitor and a computer interface module built into its lining. The pilot was kept suspended in mid air by the zero-gravity the sphere was generating and repulsive magnetism. Magnets in key locations of the pilot’s clothing and the walls of the sphere enabled him or her to adjust, rotate and maneuver their postures, not unlike an underwater ballet dance. Motion capture sensors and technology made it possible for the onboard computer to read the movements of the pilot and mimic them with the starfighter. It also made it possible for the computer to interpret hand and arm movements as commands. All of this made the starfighter an agile gunship that could engage a dozen targets in the time it took a spacefighter to engage with just one. Starfighters were a credible match for 30 spacefighters and a serious threat to 50.

Inside the basestars, starfighters remained collapsed into a compact fold that resembled a pumpkin seed in shape. This form maximized the number of starfighters that could be stored in the bay of a basestar. When in battle, starfighters opened out into humanoid configurations, two arms, two legs, a torso and an array of sensors, communication disks and directed energy cannons were situated where the head would be. The railguns were in the arms. Thrusters were where the feet and hands would be, and in the lower front and upper back of the torso. The power-plants were in the upper arms and upper legs. This configuration was the reason behind the Man of War moniker that was given to its prototype. In this humanoid form the starfighter had the ability to shoot and maneuver simultaneously. They were quick, agile and could spew out 20 times more warheads than a spacefighter could, per minute. They also produced energy shields that enabled them to endure directed energy beams for prolonged periods of time, several seconds to a few minutes depending on distance and the power of the beam. It was for these reasons that starfighters were such a dangerous threat. They could move in close before launching their warheads.

“We’re hit!”

“We’re pitching forward!”

“Main thrusters are down!”

“We’re hit again!”

“We’re tumbling!”

“Multiple hits!”

“I’ve lost helm control!”

“Multiple structural alarms down the length of the ship!”

“8—11—15 capsules are offline!”

“Primary power is gone!”

“Navigation is down! Targeting is down! Sensors are down!”

The occupants of the Voltaire command capsule were being buffeted about in their acceleration couches as they yelled out these reports in rapid succession. Errant waves of inertia caused small, untethered items to fly about the capsule in intermittent bursts. All of this transpired across a handful of seconds. At the end of this time, ADM Yukio called out his final order as the Commander of the Voltaire Battlegroup.

“Abandon ship! Abandon ship! Abandon ship!”

_~~~~~Line Break~~~~~_

Battlestar Voltaire’s position at the front and center of the formation caused it to be among the first warships in the fleet to be targeted by the WDF02 starfighters. The 200 starfighters from Basestar Goliath pierced through the front perimeter of the UEF Fleet at a speed that gave opposing spaceships a little more than ten seconds to engage each other. The starfighters raced in from behind the barrage of warheads they launched and maintained their fire as they passed through the Fleet. UEF battlestars and spacefighters managed to burn through the shields and vessels of a dozen starfighters during this assault, but the bulk of their energy beams were focused on the warheads coming at them. The starfighters directed most of their attention at the battlestars. Each starfighter rifled out of their railguns more than 500 warheads over the course of this attack. Six battlestars were shattered into pieces by the kinetic energy in 68 warhead impacts.

The rear of the UEF Fleet endured a fate like the front. The 200 starfighters launched by Basestar Colossus pierced through the rear one-third of the UEF Fleet and destroyed four battlestars. Eleven starfighters got burned through by the hundreds of defensive energy beams gleaming out from the UEF Fleet. In total, 109 spacefighters were destroyed during the assault, but this was negligible by comparison to their total number. What was significant was the disruption this assault had on the formation of the fleet. At the end of this assault, half of the spacefighters and all but 4 of the remaining 23 battlestars were out of formation and falling further away. It took another 12 minutes for this disassembly to stop and begin to contract. Five of those minutes were spent establishing who was the new fleet commander.

_~~~~~Line Break~~~~~_

“This is Admiral Elliot Teale, Commanding Officer of the Battlestar Canberra—Senior Operational Officer and Acting Commander of the UEF Space Force 1st Fleet. Admirals Wyatt Yukio, Zach Milligan and Ralph Bogdan, along with the remains of their battlestars, are adrift in space. Be advised, while in null space the enemy basestars can make changes in trajectory within a time span of a few minutes and without a loss of speed. Future engagements with the enemy basestars must be done at speeds significantly below their star-drive jump minimums. Their star-drive technology gives them too great of an advantage when they can engage at jump speeds. I repeat, we must avoid a second battle with the starcorp basestars at jump speed velocity.”

ADM Teale paused behind his final remark to give weight to its significance, and then he continued to report.

“We have engaged with War Machine WDF02. One-hundred and nine spacefighters have been destroyed and ten battlestars are out of action. Eight of my remaining battlestars and half of my starfighters are out of formation and scattered in the expanse. I have slowed the Fleet by one-quarter while the force reforms. The enemy basestars sustained no damage in the engagement. Sensors detected evidence that one to two dozen starfighters were put out of action during the engagement. The locations of the basestars and the remaining starfighters are unknown at the time of this recording. They have fallen outside of our… Hold.”

ADM Teale turned his attention up toward the large monitor at the center of his capsule. He gave it a moment of study and then turned his attention back toward the camera in his personal console.

“Sensors have detected two energy bursts at our rear. The signatures are a match for star-drive technology. I will continue to transmit reports on the half hour or at the end of any future engagement. This is Admiral Teale. Out.”

_~~~~~Line Break~~~~~_

Basestars Colossus and Goliath continued to fall away from the UEF and their battle with the starfighters until it moved out beyond their sensor fields. For the whole of this time they tracked the progression of the battle behind them and fed that data to their starfighters. It took the basestars a little more than 7 minutes to fall out of range of the battle behind them. At the end of this time, the two basestars jumped into null-space one after the other and less than a minute apart.

Eight minutes had passed when Basestar Colossus reappeared from null space. Once again it was ahead of the UEF Fleet and falling on a trajectory that would take it across its path. The Goliath appeared ahead of the UEF Fleet two minutes later, and it too was on a trajectory that would take it across the path of the UEF Fleet. The trajectory of the Goliath had it crossing the path of Colossus at a point that the latter had traversed through less than a minute before. The intersection of this crossing was directly ahead of the UEF Fleet and beyond their lethal zone, but not excessively so.

The UEF Fleet responded to the approach of this coordinated attack by closing into a tight formation with as many vessels as they could. This new formation contained 15 of the 23 remaining battlestars and half of their spacefighter force. The other half of the Fleet was scattered out and behind this new formation. A simultaneous 90 second barrage from Colossus and Goliath commenced 17 minutes after their reentry into real-space, two and three minutes before they crossed the path of the UEF Fleet, respectively. At the point of intersection, directly ahead of the UEF Fleet, each basestar launched another 200 starfighters one after the other. Four hundred starfighters streamed toward the front of the UEF formation in two separate groups. Ahead of the starfighters, a total of 4,000 warheads were streaming toward the Fleet from its left and right fronts.

_~~~~~Line Break~~~~~_

“Admiral, should we evade?” LCDR Andrews yelled out for a response.

At this moment, ADM Teale’s thoughts were stuck in a quandary. He knew that the Fleet could easily evade the 2 barrages coming from their left and right fronts, they were more than ten seconds away. His mind told him that this evasive maneuvering would make the targeting of their Directed Energy Defense Systems (DED) exponentially more difficult. This was a concern because of the barrage he was expecting to come from the starfighters. He knew that the starfighters would wait to commence their railgun barrage when they were inside their combat zone. He also knew that the energy needed to evade the barrage from the basestars would severely limit the power he could apply to the DED System. A counter railgun barrage to break up the starfighters would also divert a great deal of power away from the DED System. Evading or firing upon the railgun barrages from the two basestars meant that his ability to blunt the assault of the starfighters while they were far out beyond their combat zone would be close to nil.

“Admiral? Should we evade?” LCDR Andrews questioned again with an insistence in his tone.

ADM Teale gave his Lieutenant Commander a momentary look of rage and then configured his intercom controls so that his words went out to the fleet.

“This is Admiral Teale to the fleet, hold the course,” ADM Teale forced out with a huff while holding down his intercom button. “Battlestars, draw back sensor fields by half,”

ADM Teale took a second to scan the faces of his command capsule crew and then continued to speak into his intercom.

“Direct all available power to DED’s,” ADM Teale spoke into the intercom. “Fleet, prepare to defend yourselves.” 

ADM Teale paused to give the crews of the fleet time to comply with his orders, and then he spoke his final order into his intercom.

“Fire at will.”

_~~~~~Line Break~~~~~_

The initial engagement lasted for little more than three minutes. The UEF Fleet took out a significant number of basestar warheads in the opening moments. Several seconds behind this start, they began adding starfighters to this number. At first it was one at a time. That quickly rose to two starfighters within the same instant. Several seconds later the starfighter losses were at 7 every 2 seconds. It was at this moment when the starfighters began launching screening fire.

In the beginning, the starfighters were launching a thin fusillade of fire. Warheads were being rifled out in twos and threes every other second. Each warhead dispersed into 4 separate warheads a second after launch, traveled away from each other in 4 different directions and detonated 2 seconds after that. Their detonations far out in front of the assault created a static smoke screen that the starfighters could briefly disappear into while they made slight up or down and left or right shifts in their tracks. The number of starfighters being knocked out of action fell to one every few seconds.

At the start of the engagement, all loses were on the side of the WDF02 forces. Shortly after the starfighters launched their full-scale barrage this changed drastically. The first wave fired off 100 warheads per starfighter across a 5 second span of time. Before the end of this time, the first wave of starfighters crossed the perimeter of the three second flight time of their warheads from launch to target. The flight time of the starfighters was 20 times that.

The barrage of starfighter warheads took a heavy toll on the UEF spacefighters. More than 100 spacefighters were shattered into pieces within the first 5 seconds of the warheads intermixing with the fleet. The battlestars escaped this fate because of the fierce defense they applied to their protection. When the first wave of starfighters came to within 10 seconds of intermingling with the UEF Fleet, they expanded open into their humanoid configuration. The fully expanded starfighters emitted a momentary burst of reverse thrust to slow their fall and then they commenced to fire into the leading ranks of battlestars in the UEF Fleet. As the battlestars attempted to evade the assault, 7 of their number took hits in the first few seconds and three were destroyed by multiple hits. Another 100 spacefighters were shattered into pieces as the starfighters fell into their midst as they passed through. The first wave of starfighters were well out of the firefight when the second wave started pouring into the UEF formation in their humanoid configuration and with all railguns blazing.

Within a few seconds of the next wave of starfighters intermingling with the UEF Fleet, the entire formation began scattering out into a hundred different directions. The injection of the starfighters into the UEF formation bore a resemblance to a faint puff of air into a cloud of smoke. The fast draw and agile maneuvering of the starfighters were too much for the spacefighters. This was space warfare's version of close quarters combat, but in this instance, it looked more like a firefight of lightly armored vehicles versus heavily armed light helicopters. Within every second that passed, dozens of spacefighters were making desperate attempts to escape these point-blank range engagements with starfighters. As the second wave of starfighters fell through the UEF Fleet’s evaporating formation, several hundred more spacefighters were destroyed. Another 5 battlestars in the formation were either damaged to the point of being inoperable or destroyed.

As this event was happening, the two WDF02 basestars were launching their third and last group of starfighters. 100 starfighters were jettisoned out of the respective bays of the two basestars and toward the back end of a dissipating cloud of enemy UEF warships. In addition, the basestars were also collecting their first and second group of starfighters. Because the UEF Fleet was falling away from the basestars, the starfighters they just launched were in a pursuit position, but this effort did not take long. It took a dozen minutes for the pursuing 200 starfighters to catch and engage with nine of the remaining 15 battlestars and the dozens of spacefighters that were screening for each. As this was happening, the first two waves of starfighters from both basestars were being recovered, rearmed and relaunched.

The scattered forces of the UEF Fleet made for easy pickings for the starfighters. They came at the battlestars from all directions, dispatching all nearby spacefighters that dared to try and protect them. Three hours later there were 2 battlestars and a little more than 700 spacefighters that were still intact and strewn across the expanse. This is when Captain Broussard, the commanding officer of UEF Battlestar Onslow—Senior Operational Officer and the Acting Commander of the UEF Space Force 1st Fleet, sent out a broadcast announcing his surrender.


	15. Win, Win

“Sorry, Babe, I have to take this,” Frank exclaimed with a glance toward Charlotte.

An instant after saying this, Frank Weaver turned his attention to his com-link wand. It was blinking red while emitting a soft beep. In response to the flashing, he unwound the wand from his wrist. Using his fingers, Frank pinched pressure points on either side of the wand’s middle. The wand reacted by shaping itself into a semicircle that went a quarter of the way around. In appearance it had a narrow crescent moon look. In effect, it was a cellphone. A mouthpiece and earpiece were situated at both ends. The mouthpiece was voice activated, the earpiece at that end was deactivated by same, and this had the opposite effect at the opposite end. Frank tapped a blinking light on the wand with his finger to connect the incoming call, and then he positioned the wand so that one end was close to his ear and the other end was near to his mouth.

“Talk to me,” Frank instructed with eagerness in his voice.

When this call came in, Frank was strolling along the promenade of the Berenberg Starship hand-in-hand with Charlotte. These jaunts had become frequent outings for them. The main reason for these walks was the launch of War-Machine WDF02. Now that his freelance space force was constructed and deployed out to perform its mission, Frank had nothing to do but wait. To fill in this empty time, he and Charlotte would take walks through the parks in the promenades before and after dinning in one of the dozens of restaurants within the BX01 cluster of starships. Shopping at one of the many clothing stores within the cluster was a frequent request by Charlotte and an infrequent accommodation by Frank. Theatrical, musical and sporting events were distractions that they attended on multiple occasions during this time. When they were at home, and not engaged with mingling sexual arousals and love play, finding a new amusement was the thinking that started their day.

“We won? We won?” Frank repeatedly queried into his cellphone with a voice that was heavily laced with astonishment.

Frank listened to his caller for several seconds more before speaking again.

“They did it!” Frank exclaimed toward Charlotte with an amazed expression. “We won. Sol is ours.”

Charlotte grinned and cheered with more enthusiasm then she felt for the success of Frank's business venture. Her happiness was for Frank, and this she displayed in her smile.

“Yeah. Thanks. I'm going to look at it right now,” Frank informed his caller in a hurry. “Bye.”

After disconnecting the call, Frank took Charlotte by the arm and led her to a nearby park bench.

“Babe,” Frank spoke as he sat down on the bench and while ushering her down beside him. “I need to see this. It’ll only take a few minutes,” he finished while flagging his com-link wand out in front of him.

“What is it?” Charlotte questioned with a shrug.

“It’s the video message from Admiral Lazaro,” Frank declared with excitement. “Do you want to see?”

Charlotte knew that Frank was offering to link her in on the viewing by touching their wands, but she had no interest in hearing the details of a space battle. She waved off the offer with a shake of her head and a, “No thanks. You go ahead.” Frank accepted her answer with a smile and then quickly turned his attention to his wand. He took the com-link into both hands and pinched pressure points on either end with his fingers. The wand responded by shaping itself into a thin pair of communication goggles. In appearance the goggles shared a resemblance with tanning goggles. In effect, the wand was a computer capable of receiving, displaying and resonating incoming data and transmitting outgoing data. Frank placed the goggles over his eyes and the tops of his ears and then tapped the side of the wand with his finger to connect with the internet.

Frank deftly negotiated his way to the message he was looking for by using his hands to manipulate the sensor field the goggles were generating in front of his face. The sensor field could only be seen by the person wearing the goggles. After several seconds of hand gestures to manipulate the invisible keyboard and touch screen in front of his face, Frank sat back and watched ADM Lazaro’s 10-minute-long video message. In the video he outlined the events that led up to the United Earth Federation’s surrender and the disposition of the Free Earth Legion, Rebel Warriors Army and the Sol System in general. At the end of the message, ADM Lazaro advised that the CEO of Starcorp WDF02 and its Board of Directors should come to Sol to finalize their agreement.

“We’re going to Sol,” Frank excitedly declared as he removed the wand from over his eyes. “We need to go home and pack.”

Charlotte was surprised by this sudden change in their agenda, but she was agreeable with it. This was Frank’s supreme moment. The last thing Charlotte wanted to do was drag her feet as he raced toward it. They hurried back to their home and spent the next 7 hours preparing for an interstellar flight that was scheduled to launch another 5 hours later. The Spaceship Ogden was chartered to take the Directors and Executive Officers of WDF02, and their posse of lawyers, to the Sol System. It was close to an hour before main engines start when Frank and Charlotte climbed into his acceleration pod. For the next 17 hours, they laid there while the Ogden accelerated to jump speed. They spent the next 3 days in the habitat of the spaceship while it fell through null-space. They got back into the acceleration pod just before the spaceship’s reentry into real-space and stayed there for 7 hours as it decelerated to cruising speed. Five days later, they climbed back into Frank’s acceleration pod when the spaceship commenced its deceleration into parking orbit around Earth. This took another seven hours to complete. In experience, Frank and Charlotte spent 10 days inside Spaceship Ogden; in effect, they traversed through 77 days of real time before reaching their destination. Seventy of these days were spent in null-space.

“It's done,” Ronald Dreyer grinned at Frank. “How does it feel to be filthy rich?”

Frank returned Ronald's grin with a large smile and extended his hand toward him as he spoke.

“You tell me.”

Ronald took Frank's hand and gave it an enthusiastic shake as they both laughed. The event encouraging this celebratory mood was the meeting of the War-Machine WDF02 Directors and Officers and the newly vested Prime Minister of Sol and his government. Ian Jakub, the leader of the now defunct Rebel Warriors Army, was given the position of Prime Minister. He was given this position because of the size of his resistance movement. It was much larger than Yuri Sardan’s Free Earth Legion, and they were the only two Earth Resistance Leaders who were signatories to Frank’s contract.

The official signing of numerous specific agreements between the newly formed Government of the Sol System Union and the recently incorporated Starcorp WDF02 took on a ceremonial veneer. The event took place inside the Federal Palace of Switzerland and was televised around the world. Frank and Ronald took part in this with gleeful enthusiasm. The event lasted for 2 hours. Much of this time was filled with ceremonies and speeches. By the end of it all War-Machine WDF02 had a contractual lock on all trade between Sol and the starcorps. WDF02 was the official middleman of the starcorps and Sol. And as such, it was in position to profit from all financial transactions between the two for the next 100 years.

Frank, Ronald and all the other Directors and Officers of WDF02, along with their consorts, spent the day politely participating in ceremonies and social events that transpired. On the morning of the next day, their entire contingent went up to Earth orbit and the Spaceship Ogden where they spent the day rejoicing in their success. Over the next 7 days they worked out the details of the WDF02’s continued presence in Sol Space. ADM Lazaro opted to resign from his commission, collect his fee and bonus, and return to the starcorp that he identified as home, JJL02. To replace him, Commander Craig Chaffin was promoted to Admiral and given the task of developing and managing the Sol System Union’s space force.

On the 9th day out from the ceremony at the Federal Palace of Switzerland, Frank, Charlotte, Nathan Lazaro, the WDF02 Board of Directors, Officers, lawyers and the consorts of all were thrusting away from Earth aboard the Spaceship Ogden. They were three hours into their acceleration toward jump speed when Charlotte began her segue to a topic that she had been thinking about since before they left BX01.

“So, it’s official. You're rich?” Charlotte queried as though she was leading Frank to the answer she was expecting.

“Yeah, well I was doing okay before the signing,” Frank answered nonchalantly and with only a portion of his attention on the question.

The majority of Frank's mind was busy reading through an analysis of Sol’s assets, worth and potential. His mind was busy entertaining ways and areas where he could invest and leverage his newfound wealth.

“I mean,” Charlotte started correcting with an intonation of delicacy. “You’re one of the richest people in the starcorps now.”

“Yeah, I am,” Frank affirmed with a smile as he continued to read.

“It's what you've always wanted, right?” Charlotte questioned in a pleasing tone.

Frank looked away from the monitor embedded in the pod and gave Charlotte a wide smile just before speaking his response.

“Babe, this is light years beyond my favorite fantasy,” Frank explained while constraining himself from grinning.

Charlotte turned so that her full face was directed at Frank, and she gave him a supportive smile. Frank noted that Charlotte was not done speaking on this subject and held his attention on her.

“I'm happy for you, Frank. I really am,” Charlotte assured with an enthusiastic nod.

At this point, Frank was convinced that something was motivating these questions and remarks from Charlotte. After a moment of thought, he considered the possibility that Charlotte was worried he would drop her contract when it expired, and he contrived a response that he hoped would settle her fears.

“Thanks, Babe,” Frank spoke with a smile and with a soft caress of his finger across her cheek. “You know, you’re my fantasy, too.”

“I am?” Charlotte questioned with an excited smile.

“Charlotte,” Frank spoke with a soft sincerity in his voice. “You’re the only woman for me.”

Charlotte feigned a blush response along with a smile, and then she nudged in a little closer just before speaking her next words with all the accentuation of sweet innocence that she could produce.

“Well, I'm glad to hear you say that. Because, I've been thinking about our contract.”

“What about our contract?” Frank softly asked with a mixture of surprise and concern in his expression.

“I want to renegotiate it,” Charlotte answered with a hint of haughty defiance.

Frank was stunned by this declaration and intoned it clearly in his return.

“You're kidding?”

Generally, social contracts were extended, renegotiated or allowed to expire at the end of their terms, and in most cases, they were either extended or allowed to expire. The split between these two actions was 50% with a 4% deviation in any given month. Renegotiating a contract at any other time was a rare occurrence and was almost never done halfway through its term. But when they were done, the instigator of the renegotiation was almost always the buyer. The term limit on Frank and Charlotte's contract was another year and a half away.

“Do I look like I'm kidding?” Charlotte challenged with a smile.

“I'm already paying you twice as much as anyone I know—twice as much as anyone one you know.”

Frank spoke these words with uproarious insistence. Charlotte brushed this aside with a look of naïve surprise and spoke her response with equivalent articulation.

“What difference does that make?”

“It's… It's… This isn't normal—This isn't right, Charlotte,” Frank fumbled out in disbelief.

“Are you saying I’m not worth any more than what I’m getting?” Charlotte disputed with feigned indignation.

Frank was caught off guard by the question. He stopped himself from saying the first thought that came to mind out of fear that Charlotte might take offense. After giving his situation a moment more of thought, he formulated a reply he believed to be his safest way forward.

“Okay, I'll go up a half more,” Frank conceded with resigned reluctance.

“I want three times what you’re paying me now,” Charlotte sharply countered in a bold voice.

“Charlotte!” Frank exclaimed with a mixture of shock and bewilderment. “Nobody pays that much.”

“So, I'm nobody to you?” Charlotte questioned with an inflection of astonishment.

“No. I mean yes, you’re somebody—You’re important,” Frank corrected defensively. “It's just that we're talking about a lot of money.”

“And you’re one of the richest persons in the starcorps now,” Charlotte added with a lighthearted flare. “And according to you, I'm the woman of your dreams.”

Frank paused to think about what was happening. His fear was that Charlotte would continue to ask for more if he gave in to her demand.

“Okay, I'll double what I'm paying,” with a hint of stern finality.

“Triple!” Charlotte returned with resolution.

Frank paused again and gave the request a long thought.

“I don't know,” Frank mumbled out with a confused shake of his head. “This isn't right.”

Charlotte knew that Frank was referring to the fact that the seller was almost never able to make exorbitant demands. But it was her suspicion and her gamble that Frank's reticence was motivated by propriety and not by an unwillingness to part with the money.

“Maybe I should leave so you can think about it,” Charlotte playfully spoke as she started to pull herself up toward the opening of the pod.

“No,” Frank called out as he wrapped his arms around Charlotte’s waist and held her down. “You don't need to go.”

“I don't know, Frank,” Charlotte returned as she held on to the door frame of the pod. “It seems like you have a lot to think over,” she continued with a pretend scowl.

Frank gave the question a moment more of thought before Shaking his head in resignation.

“Okay. Triple,” Frank declared with exaggerated reluctance.

“Thank you,” Charlotte returned as she pushed back into pod and snuggled up to Frank with a wide smile.

Frank took a second to note the near grin on Charlotte's face before returning her expression with a scowl and a frustrated shake of his head.

“You're wicked,” Frank announced with an intonation of surprise in his voice.

“I'm whatever you want me to be, Frank,” Charlotte countered with an impish smile as she nuzzled her nose against his cheek.

After speaking these words, Charlotte snuggled on top of Frank, wrapped her arms about his neck and embraced into a passionate kiss on his lips. Frank was quick to return the ardor.


	16. The Spoils of War

“Da-da!”

Charlotte removed her hands from over her eyes at the sound of Frank's rhythmic exclaim. She knew that Frank had taken her to a location on the promenade of the Starship Berenberg, the transport pod announced it just before opening the door. What she did not know was where on the promenade deck he had taken her. Frank guided her out of the transport pod while she held her hands over her eyes. During their minute-long walk, she peeked out several times but saw nothing to explain this adventure that Frank was taking her on. It was at the end of their walk when Frank urged her to take down her hands.

“What's this?” Charlotte questioned as she gawked at the estate in front of her.

“It's our new home,” Frank declared in an excited voice. “What do you think?”

“We're going to live here?” Charlotte questioned with a heavy emphasis of surprise.

“Yeah,” Frank exclaimed with an expression of excitement. “What do you think?”

Charlotte was amazed near to the point of being speechless. A house on the promenade deck on any starship was immensely expensive, and this was doubly true on the Berenberg. Promenade decks existed as places for parks and large-scale entertainment facilities. Promenades were spacious by design. Their primary purpose was to impress upon starship inhabitants the sensation of vastness. In rare instances, there were some small structures that could be found dotted along the promenade decks of starships. These were always a scattered number of high-end restaurants, shops, boutiques and emporiums with very expensive merchandise. In less rare instances, stand-alone manors of the excessively rich could be found on the promenade decks of starships. Within the starcorps, owning a home that is a stand-alone structure and is situated on the floor of the promenade deck is the ultimate display of wealth.

The estate that Frank had just recently purchased was a 2-story, 5-bedroom 5,000 square foot house situated on 12,000 square feet of walled property. Complete with the property is an external pool and tennis court, an exercise room, a game room and a 20-seat home theater. The purchase price of the estate was beyond what Frank had in liquid assets, but the bank assessed his near future income at a thousand times more than its value and extended comparable credit.

“Frank, this is amazing,” Charlotte cheered with glee. “When can we move in,” she continued with excitement.

“Today. Right now,” Frank returned with a large smile.

Charlotte grinned with excitement as she jumped into Frank's arms. They kissed and then hugged as he spun her around off the floor.

Over the 18 months that followed this home purchase, Frank and Charlotte hosted more than a dozen lavish parties. The guests for these affairs were, invariably, the ultra rich who were living in or visiting BX01. Over this same time period, Frank and Charlotte adorned their home with the most expensive furnishings and art that they could find. Most of these purchases were made by or were at the direction of Charlotte with Frank's money. By the end of this same period, Frank had purchased a generous quantity of expensive jewelry for Charlotte and himself. In addition to these purchases, he bought the Spaceship Star Dancer for his own personal use. Star Dancer was the most expensive personal item on his shopping list by far. Its singular purpose as a transport vehicle prohibited it from producing income to pay for upkeep, taxes, parking fees and the payroll for its crew. All the money for these expenses was coming from Frank, and most of that money was credited to him by the bank. Frank's estimated future worth was the impetus for BX01's generosity, and the money they leant to this date was only the tip of what the bank was prepared to make available to Frank Weaver.

The purchase of a private spaceship became the vehicle for more spending extravagances. Frank and Charlotte spent 13 of the past 18 months away from BX01 and the star system where it was located. During these travels Frank invested a substantial portion of his line of credit into numerous business ventures. Despite the sum of these investments dwarfing the cost of Star Dancer, these investments were only minor distractions for Frank. The entire starcorp community became a shopping mall that he and Charlotte could peruse through at will. With his new spaceship, spectacular theatrical shows, sporting events, festivals, expensive stores, the best hotels and restaurants throughout the starcorps were just a time-jump away. They were visiting Starcorp IPLF02 for just one of these occasions when the course of Frank’s financial growth made a turn for the worst.

“They can’t do this!” Frank exclaimed to himself.

Frank was seated inside the Starship Messina Grand Arena watching its annual Equestrian Competition when an interstellar message from Abel Cobb, his lawyer, buzzed in on his com-link. The message he received was his first hearing of a legal challenge to WDF02’s contract with the Sol System Union. Charlotte and several people seated around them were startled by Frank’s outburst.

“What’s wrong?” Charlotte questioned from behind a look of surprise.

“The Tellurian Resistance has made a legal challenge to my contract with the Sol System Union,” Frank explained with a look of astonishment.

Charlotte noted the concern in Frank’s expression and decided to match it with her own intonation of disbelief.

“Can they do that?” Charlotte queried with a confused hesitation.

“They claim to have their own contract with a handful of starcorp investors,” Frank returned with a flare of anger.

Charlotte was not sure about what she had just heard, but it sounded like the same business venture that Frank had been jabbering about for the past two years.

“Isn’t that what you’ve got?” Charlotte tentatively questioned.

“Yes!” Frank insisted with an inflection of disbelief that he had to say it. “They’re trying to bust up my deal.”

Charlotte had no response. She could see that Frank was upset, but she had no idea what to say to alleviate his distress. While in the middle of deliberating what she should say, Frank spoke up with a decision that he was firmly committed to.

“We’ve got to go.”

Frank hurried out of the arena with Charlotte in hand behind him. Charlotte gave no protest to being pulled along by Frank. She could see that the message he received had him very upset. Five hours after leaving the Grand Arena, Frank and Charlotte were aboard the Star Dancer thrusting away from IPLF02. Their destination was BX01. Frank advised Charlotte that a local court referred the suit to the Starcorp League Supreme Court and that the case was scheduled to be adjudicated there in another month. At maximum speed, it took Star Dancer 27 days to arrive outside of the Starship Berenberg.

“The Tellurian Resistance is claiming that they were disenfranchised when WDF02 made this deal with the Free Earth Resistance and the Rebel Warriors Army,” Abel Cobb explained in earnest. “It’s not impossible that the Supreme Court will validate their grievance.”

Eight days had passed since Star Dancer’s arrival outside of the BX01 cluster of starships. Frank was sitting in the court where the lawsuit by the Tellurian Resistance and the group of starcorp investors was about to be heard by a group of seven Supreme Court Justices. The court was still in the process of filling up with participants and spectators. Abel was seated next to Frank at the rear of the room.

“What do they want?” Frank questioned with an exaggerated expression of disbelief. “They had nothing before we took over. If the court sides with them, it won’t change anything.”

Abel gave the question a quick thought before commencing with his elucidation on the plaintiff’s expectation.

“In the lawsuit, the Tellurian Resistance is claiming that they have the right to make separate contractual agreements with starcorp investors. If the court agrees with them, then they’ll be free to pursue a separate contract with starcorp investors.”

“The Sol System has a new government,” Frank challenged with a confused shake of his head. “The Tellurian Resistance can’t do anything without their okay. They’ll be breaking Sol System Union law.”

“True,” Abel affirmed with a deliberative nod of his head. “But if the court rules in their favor then the Tellurian Resistance will be within their rights by starcorp law to challenge the authority of the Sol System Union.” 

“And what’s that going to look like?” Frank disputed with an abrupt gesture of his hands.

“Well, I suppose it will mean that they’ll be within their rights here to hire a war-machine to displace the Sol System Union,” Abel suggested with a shrug.

An instant after hearing this, Frank came to an understanding about why a starcorp group of investors were supporting this lawsuit. He turned to Abel with a startled expression as he pondered his options if the court ruled for the Tellurian Resistance.

“Who are these investors?” Frank questioned with an angry glare.

“I don't have any names,” Abel returned as he followed the entry of a new group of people into the court with his eyes. “But I believe one of them may have just walked into court.”

With a nod of his head, Abel directed Frank's attention toward a group of people walking toward the front of the courtroom. Frank recognized Elijah Cromwell the instant his eyes fixed on to him. The Tellurian Resistance Representative was flanked on both sides by seven other individuals. Frank assumed that several of these individuals were lawyers, but there was one among them who was too familiar to be mistaken as part of Elijah's legal representation.

“That's Ryan DeWitt,” Frank spoke with surprise in his voice.

Frank had never met Ryan, but he saw images and videos of him on numerous occasions when he was raising venture capital for WDF02. The cherubic man with the passive indifference in the videos was unmistakable despite his real-life burly stature and the severe demeanor he was displaying at present. Frank fixed his gaze on Ryan to the exclusion of all others. He watched as Ryan and the others with him talked in a huddle. Shortly into their discussion, they began to sort themselves out into nearby seating. Ryan had just reached the front of the chair where he would be sitting when his look strayed out across the courtroom and found Frank looking back at him. Ryan locked his gaze onto Frank and adjusted his expression into a menacing glare. He and Frank kept their stares fixed on each other for several seconds, and then Ryan DeWitt took his seat.


	17. The Verdict

“There is no disputing that Earth's Tellurian Resistance Movement has been left out of the process of formulating the Sol System Union Government. And there is no denying that the Tellurian Resistance claim of right to participate in the formation of a new Sol System government is the equal of the Rebel Warrior Army and the Free Earth Legion. Because these facts cannot be disputed, I cannot give weight to the defense’s argument that the Tellurian Resistance has no right to make a legal challenge to government put into place in the Sol System with the assistance of starcorp money, personnel and technology. However, since it is not in the purview of the Starcorp League Supreme Court to adjudicate on the political and social affairs of the Sol System inhabitants, and it is not within the authority or power of this court to assess the fairness of the allocation of power in the Sol System or to install reparations for same, this court cannot give recognition to the Tellurian Resistance claim of right to have a part in the creation of a new Sol System government. It is also the ruling of this court that all agreements and contracts made by the Sol System Union with Starcorp WDF02 are legal. When the Tellurian Resistance elected not to be a signatory to the contract that the Free Earth Legion and The Rebel Warrior Army signed with War-Machine WDF02, it forfeited all rights to any participation in the formulation of Sol System's present government or any agreements made by same.”

The lawyers representing the Sol System Union, the Executive and Officials from War-Machine WDF02 and Frank were visibly relieved with Judge Samantha Grant’s summation so far. After a pause to give weight to her declaration, Justice Grant continued.

“This ruling notwithstanding, it is the position of this court that the Tellurian Resistance has a just claim of entitlement and has a right to pursue redress for its perceived grievance with the Sol System Union. It is also the finding of this court that any redress attempted by the Tellurian Resistance that exists within the boundaries of International Laws and human rights agreements subscribed to by the Starcorp League and is not afoul of the laws within the jurisdiction of this court is not a statutory offense within the Starcorp League. It is also the ruling of this court that any starcorp, group of starcorps or any members of same are within their rights, within the jurisdiction of this court, to give aid and assistance to the Tellurian Resistance in this endeavor.”

“Did she just say what I think she said,” Frank grumbled out from behind a look of disbelief.

Frank was not the only person surprised by this decision. Ryan DeWitt and Elijah Cromwell were visibly relieved to hear Justice Grant’s decision, and all others present either sighed or gasped in response. Everyone there was expecting the judgement in this case to be shocking, either way. Never had there been a suit of this type or scale. Nearly everyone within the starcorp community was waiting to hear the outcome of this court case.

“The Starcorp Supreme Court has just taken a pass on the Tellurian suit,” Abel softly advised as he leaned toward Frank.

“How can they do that?”

“The Sol System is out of the court's jurisdiction. Any ruling it makes here was always going to have no weight there.”

“But the court can restrict what they can do here.”

“It can, but it didn't,” Abel returned in a matter of fact manner. “You could be looking at another war.” 

“Do you really think they'll do that?” Frank questioned with a scowl and a glance toward Ryan. “The expense would be enormous, and they wouldn't be going up against the UEF Space Force.”

“Yeah, but neither will you,” Abel returned after a thought. “And the profit potential will be just as great for a new group of investors as it is for WDF02.”

Frank took a moment to consider Abel's words. As the suggestion in his statement grew in validity within his thoughts so did his anger. He fixed his eyes on Ryan and watched as he celebrated the ruling from Justice Grant. Several seconds into this observation, Ryan turned his eyes toward Frank. A faint smile spread across Ryan's face as he gazed at Frank. The two of them held their looks of anger and satisfaction through several seconds of staring, and then they turned their attentions back toward Justice Grant.

The end of the proceeding came quickly after Justice Grant finished speaking her finding. After gathering up the paperwork in front of her, Justice Grant left the court without fanfare. An instant later, the participants and spectators within the court began shuffling toward the rear entrance while producing a heavy murmur of crosstalk between them. Frank and Ryan were among the last to exit the courtroom. In the hallway outside, Frank made it his mission to confront Ryan DeWitt.

“Why are you doing this now?” Frank questioned from under his breath.

Ryan took on an amused expression, and then move slightly forward.

“Because I can,” Ryan whispered with a hint of a smile.

Frank took a moment to consider Ryan’s words. Over the course of this time, he held his stare into the eyes of the man who was trying to ruin his success story.

“That’s not why you’re doing this,” Frank disputed at the end of his pause. “You could’ve been in on this from the beginning. Is this some-kind of sore-loser thing?”

Ryan took an immediate offense to words sore-loser, and his facial expression changed to reflect his new demeanor.

“I don’t lose, Mr. Weaver,” Ryan growled back with a hushed voice and a ruffled brow. “You need to understand that right now. I don’t lose,” he finished with finality.

Frank was taken aback by the intensity of Ryan’s response. It was clear to him that he had struck a sensitive nerve in Ryan DeWitt, and this engendered a reluctance within him to aggravate it any further. After a moment of thought, Frank decided to appeal to his sense of community obligation.

“The starcorps are on the verge of a historic financial boom,” Frank insisted in a near pleading voice. “The Sol System’s workforce and its market will be the dominant engine behind the growth of the starcorps for the next 200 years and you’re jeopardizing that.”

Once again, Ryan was offended by Frank’s words. He fumed for the few seconds that occurred just before he began his response.

“You little pissant,” Ryan railed at Frank in a gruff voice. “Don’t presume to instruct me in business or on my civic duty. I’ve been a top 100 starcorp investor for more than 50 years.”

It was clear to Frank at this moment that soft talk and polite appeals was going to get him nothing from Ryan DeWitt. And the act of being belittled by a super-rich businessman that Frank perceived as arrogant brought his anger back to the fore.

“Big deal,” Frank bellowed back in defiance. “Whoop-dee doo. The Sol System deal is done. You had your chance and you blew it.”

This was language more to Ryan’s liking. It was straightforward and blunt, and it gave Ryan a feeling of release to speak the same.

“Well, I’m about to start a new deal,” Ryan returned with a smile.

Frank knew that his last remark and Ryan’s response had him in all the way. He was not about to back down now, and he inched in to emphasize his next choice of words.

“You don’t have the resources to go up against WDF02,” Frank spoke beneath his breath.

“I will, Mr. Weaver,” Ryan returned with a nod and a smile. “Give it time. And when I’m done, I will be in control of the Sol System.”

Frank took a moment to examine the round face of the man standing in front of him. He gave him a careful assessment and then gave his head a brief knowing shake.

“This isn’t about the Sol System,” Frank spoke softly as he continued to study Ryan, “This is personal,” he added with a nod of understanding. “You got bested by a small-time businessman and it’s eating you up inside,” Frank finished with a knowing smile.

Ryan was visibly infuriated by this remark despite his best effort to conceal it. He took a moment to give Frank an intense stare as he inhaled and exhaled a heavy breath.

“I don’t like being made to look like a fool,” Ryan spoke between his teeth in a hushed voice. “Especially not by a two-bit con-man,” he grumbled out with finality.

This last remark told Frank everything he needed to know. Ryan DeWitt could not be reasoned with. He knew that Ryan wanted to bring him down just as much as he wanted the wealth there was to be accrued from the Sol System deal. He gave Ryan DeWitt a glare of anger and in return, Ryan displayed a faint smile. A few seconds later, Frank stepped back and went on his way.

Frank spent the remainder of the day conferring with board members and officers of War-Machine WDF02 and the teams of lawyers it employed. Their conversing went on for five hours longer than usual and came to an end only after a promise to continue the discussion the next day. When Frank arrived at his home, he found Charlotte watching a shopping channel while lying in bed.

“Did you eat?” Charlotte queried in a soft voice as she turned off the TV monitor built into the wall across from the foot of the bed.

Charlotte suspected that Frank was in a depressed mood. She watched the Tellurian suit weigh down his disposition over the past nine days. The verdict of the Starcorp League Supreme Court was broadcasted throughout BX01 within a handful of minutes after it was given. Charlotte had no doubt that Frank was displeased with the verdict and that this was the reason for his late arrival home.

“I’m find,” Frank returned as he began disrobing.

After throwing his suit coat into a chair, Frank went into the bathroom with barely a look in Charlotte’s direction.

“I heard the verdict,” Charlotte called out as Frank passed through the bathroom doorway. “Is it that bad?”

Charlotte’s concern for Frank was evident in the tone of her speech, but this had nothing to do with the risk to his financial situation. She was sincerely concerned for Frank’s state of mind. His somber disposition had been growing worst over the past week.

“There’s going to be another war,” Frank reported in a voice that was near to a growl.

“No,” Charlotte exclaimed with surprise. “I mean, why would anyone do that?”

“For money,” Frank yelled back over the sound of water spewing from the faucet in the bathroom sink.

“But you’re already there—I mean WDF02, they can’t just kick you out of the Sol System,” Charlotte exclaimed with a perplexed inflection.

“They can try,” Frank called out with a blunt delivery.

Charlotte was confused by this reply. In her mind, the presence of the WDF02 war-machine in the Sol System represented the ultimate advantage. The popular opinion within the on-air and online community was that the WDF02’s war-machine was the most powerful space force anywhere. It made no sense in Charlotte’s mind for anyone to challenge it.

“But they can’t win,” Charlotte disputed with a hint of disbelief in her voice.

“You don’t know that,” Frank raged back from inside the bathroom.

Charlotte heard the panic in Frank’s voice and sat up bed. She refrained from responding while she listened to Frank brush his teeth. After a brief time, he stopped brushing, gargled and then he turned off the faucet.

“Frank,” Charlotte began in a pleading tone of voice. “It’s alright. This is your business deal. Everybody knows that. You’re rich. You’re famous. Everybody likes you. Nobody is going to try and cut into your deal.”

“You’re living in a dream world, Charlotte,” Frank argued back as he walked back into the bedroom while disrobing. “They’re coming.”

“No, they’re not,” Charlotte insisted in a quick retort. “You want to know how I know, Frank?”

Charlotte paused behind this question to give it weight. She was not expecting a reply from Frank, but he began to do just that as he walked into the wardrobe room.

“How?” Frank mumbled out with an intonation of resignation.

“Because it would cost too much,” Charlotte asserted with finality. “Who’s going to take that kind of risk. Everything is going to be okay, Frank. I know it.”

“No, you don’t,” Frank responded as he tussled to change out of his day clothes and into his pajamas. “They’re coming,” he continued in a resolute voice. “They’re coming because the reward is worth the risk. We’re talking about a lot of money—a mega fortune. And trust me, there’s a lot of investors out there who would love to muscle in on this deal.”

“So, you just don’t let them,” Charlotte countered with a shrug.

“Yeah, and how much will that cost me,” Frank grumbled to himself, mostly. “Ninety-percent of our military personnel have been released. We’re going to have to hire them back or someone to replace them. That's going to cost us. And we can't count on any help from the Sol System Union. Their space Force is less than useless. It's been mostly dismantled by us. And they have no incentive to reconstitute it.” 

Frank continued to speak as he walked back into the bedroom, crossed over to the bed and climbed under the covers. Charlotte watched him in silence and with concern in her expression.

“Their spacefighters are no match for starcorp starfighters,” Frank continued to grumble as Charlotte nudged over to his side and laid a caressing hand on his chest. “And they know we need this win just as much as they do. They have no incentive to give us anything beyond logistical support. Our contracts and future profits are on the line. We're already invested financially. We have debts we have to pay. And then there’s the matter of the cost of new starfighters. We’re going to have to rebuild...”

“So, you’ll do all of that,” Charlotte cut-in with an optimistic inflection. “It’s no big deal. You did it once, and you’ll do it again.”

“They’re going to be doing the same thing, Babe,” Frank advised with a somber shake of his head. “He’s going to be coming at me hard.”

“Who?” Charlotte questioned with a quizzical look.

“DeWitt,” Frank answered with a blank expression.

Charlotte took a moment to note Frank's distant stare before responding.

“Well, he’s going to lose,” Charlotte assured in a soothing voice while nuzzling closer Frank. “Relax, Frank. Everything is going to work itself out.”

Frank took a moment to consider Charlotte’s optimistic assessment and then he closed his eyes. Charlotte snuggled next to him and did the same.


	18. Battle Plans

“Have a seat, Commander McCall,” Ryan DeWitt instructed with his usual authoritarian confidence.

Commander Kenneth McCall stepped away from the entrance and walked down the length of a conference table that was situated in the center of the room. He came to a stop at the mid-point of the table and sat down in the chair there. He carried nothing with him. He laid his hands atop the conference table at shoulder width distance from each other. He looked straight across the conference table with a poker face expression. Directly across from Commander McCall, was Ryan DeWitt, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the newly incorporated War-Machine DGP09. Seated with Ryan, on either side, were 8 additional members of the Board.

Commander McCall was an average man with regards to his physical dimensions and features. The only thing about him that someone might call striking was the severe expression he frequently maintained. Among his acquaintances, he was commonly thought of as pompous. This was not an inaccurate characterization. Commander Kenneth McCall was a genius by all measure of intellect, and he was not averse to instructing others on the size of his intellect. He thought little of anyone who did not measure intellectually high by his perception, and he thought of no one as his equal or better in this regard. To say he thought more of himself than everyone else was not an exaggeration. His intellectual keenness notwithstanding, Commander McCall showed no sign of a singularly superior insight or understanding into any science or discipline. For the most part, his exceptional aptitude of mind was limited to an ability to retain large amounts of information and do large calculations quickly.

“Commander McCall, so far, the only thing I can see that makes you a credible consideration for this position is experience, but you’re not alone there,” Ryan commenced with a flat delivery and a poker face. “Your résumé says nothing that gives you any advantage over a dozen other applicants. So, I ask you, why should we give you the job?”

Commander McCall showed no indication that he was intimidated by Ryan’s manner. He held his stare and demeanor as he began to speak his reply.

“Because you're looking for the best person for the job,” Commander McCall returned in a matter of fact tone of voice. “And I am that person.”

“All the applicants say that,” Director Horner quickly challenged from 3 seats down from Ryan’s right.

“They’re wrong,” Commander McCall countered with a look down the table. “You need an intellect with a superior understanding of space warfare to command your war-machine. My academy credentials along with my experience should put me at the head of your list of applicants.”

The experience that Commander McCall and the Directors were speaking of was his time aboard the WDF02 Basestar Goliath. He served as a subordinate officer to Commander Craig Chaffin during the WDF/UEF War. Commander McCall was not the only member of WDF02’s war-machine that came to DGP09 looking for employment, but he was the only high-ranking officer to do so. No other veteran senior officer of WDF02’s war-machine during that conflict saw the need to offer their services to DGP09. Their contracts with WDF02 was paying them well, it was thought that their services in a DGP/WDF War would be better used defending that contract in view of the odds in WDF02’s favor. There was also the advantage of a new contract with WDF02 adding a substantial addition to the income they had already been given. Commander Kenneth McCall’s application for the position of Commanding Officer of War-Machine DGP09 was evidence of the size of his ambition.

“Everyone on that list surpasses you in scoring in the starfighter combat piloting skills simulator,” Director Jodorowsky sharply disputed from two seats down from Ryan’s left.

“It’s a game,” Commander McCall argued back with a slight glare at Jodorowsky. “For every one of those applicants I can find a dozen kids with higher scores. You don’t want a hot shot pilot commanding your war-machine. The person you want is someone who understands how to wield the might of your war-machine effectively.”

“And that’s you because you’re so much smarter than everyone else?” Ryan queried with a hint of jest in his tone.

“That's right,” Commander McCall answered without hesitation and with a turn of his head toward Ryan.

Commander McCall and Ryan looked at each other in silence for a moment and then Commander McCall continued.

“Let me tell you what all the other applicants said,” Commander McCall verbalized testily. “They recited the text book battle tactics for space warfare between war-machines that are comprised of basestars, battlestars and starfighters working as an integrated battlegroup. They emphasized a strong starfighter force and as many basestars as you can afford. They advocated battlestars as reinforcement for a weak or deficient starfighter force. And I can tell you right now, Chaffin has read the same text book.”

Commander McCall paused to give weight to his las remark. He glanced across the row of faces in front of him, and then he began to speak again.

“You only have one basestar, and I suspect you can only afford the one,” McCall continued with a trace of smugness in his voice. “The WDF has 2 basestars. And in the time that it will take you to ready the forces that you’ve already purchased, the WDF will have restored their war-machine back to full strength. Going by the text book, WDF02 has already won.”

Once again Commander McCall paused to note the expressions on the faces of his interviewers. He needed only a couple of seconds to become convinced that he had their full attention. Their silence told him that they wanted to hear more, and so he continued.

“And if you do acquire a second basestar, the WDF will likely buy a third basestar,” McCall suggested with an off-the-cuff-inflection. “They have no incentive to meet you in battle with even numbers. With the potential wealth of the Sol System to borrow against and access to the same resources that you have, they won't have any trouble attracting new investors. And those investors will likely insist on a war-machine larger than yours by half, minimum. Possibly double your size if you give the WDF enough time. They’re going to do everything they can to take the gamble out of this fight. Your situation is simple. You want to maximize your chance of winning while minimizing the size of the debt you will have to absorb if you lose.”

Commander McCall took a couple of seconds to look at the Directors across from him to give emphasis to his last remark. The vestige of a smirk appeared on his face and then he continued with greater insistence.

“Directors, it is time to throw the textbook in the trash. Your best chance at winning this war is by using your smaller size to your advantage. The fact that you will be the attacker and not the defender makes this your best option.”

Commander McCall took a prolong pause to see if he had impressed the Directors with his dissection of their situation, which they were. Ryan pondered Commander McCall’s last statement for a couple of seconds and then he began to speak.

“And how do you figure that, Commander McCall?” Ryan questioned from behind a stern expression.

“The defender has to take a stand. You don't,” Commander McCall returned with finality.

This response was not without thoughtful calculation by Commander McCall. He had done the math on space warfare and the odds for and against winning any battle using dozens of variations of space force sizes, strengths and tactics. Over the next hour, Commander McCall explained the battle tactics he would use against the WDF02 war-machine. At the end of that time, Commander Kenneth McCall was offered the position of Commanding Officer of War-Machine DPG09.

_~~~~~Line Break~~~~~_

“What can you tell us about Kenneth McCall?” Frank questioned a second after ADM Craig Chaffin walked into the conference room.

Seated along the outer side of a long U-shaped table were the 19 members of the WDF02 Board of Directors. Frank was seated at the center-bottom end of the U. All eyes focused on ADM Chaffin from the moment he entered the room. ADM Chaffin paused for a moment to note their looks and Frank’s question, and then he sat down at the desk and chair situated just inside the open end of the U.

“He's an arrogant prick,” ADM Chaffin answered nonchalantly.

“That arrogant prick is now the commanding officer of War-Machine DGP09,” Frank countered without hesitation.

ADM Chaffin arrived at BX01 seven hours earlier. He time-jumped from the Sol System specifically for this meeting. The subject matter came as no surprise. The Admiral had been in continuous video messaging contact with the board since his promotion to Admiral in-charge of War-Machine WDF02. The topics in the past involved the rearmament of the war-machine and news on the disposition of the DPG09 war-machine. Kenneth McCall’s employment as the Commanding Admiral of the DPG09 war-machine had already reached ADM Chaffin in the Sol System, and the trip to BX01 provided him with plenty of time to preselect verbiage to use in response to their questions on his appointment.

“He's a stupid, arrogant prick,” Craig spoke in response to Frank’s last remark.

“The DGP09 just put that stupid prick in-charge of their war-machine,” Director Purell asserted to Craig. “So, we have to wonder what they know that we don't.”

“Kenneth McCall is a highly intelligent person,” Craig returned after a moment of thought. “But he's no magician,” he continued to speak with soft insistence. “DGP doesn't have the numbers. They're only going to have half as many starfighters as us and they only have one basestar. I wouldn't be surprised if the DGP backed out of this whole idea.”

“It's too late for that,” Director Brenda Marinelli challenged with a look of disbelief. “DGP has racked up debts putting their war-machine together. If they back out now, they've got nothing but a large bill to pay.”

“When they lose, that bill is going to be a lot larger,” Craig spoke dismissively. “They're just wasting their money.”

“I can't say that your confidence is easing my concerns, Admiral Chaffin,” Director Darin Geller pondered out with a slight shake of his head. “Board of Directors are not in the habit of making bad gambles. They have to think they can win this war, and this indifferent attitude of yours has me worried about your fitness for the position that you hold.” 

Craig's casual demeanor fell away in response to this rebuke. His first thought was to wonder if the Directors had found someone else to command the WDF02 war-machine. He hesitated to speak while he searched the faces of the Directors for evidence that they were about to replace him. Shortly into his consideration, Frank began speaking.

“Admiral Chaffin,” Frank called out to get his attention. “What are your plans for dealing with this challenge to our contracts with the Sol System Union?”

Craig focused his attention onto Frank and paused to consider the question. A couple of seconds into his thought, he began to speak with a gruffness in his voice.

“Directors, my plan is simple, engage and destroy. DGP must come to me. I don't have to do anything to find them. They are going to come to us. The constraints that the Starcorp League Supreme Court put on DGP limits their military action to the Sol System Union Government, any government forces defending it and any agent that the Sol System Union employs to act in its defense with armed resistance. DGP cannot engage in any act of violence against the civilian population or none military targets. Their only recourse is to seize the capital, which is on Earth. And the only way they can do that is by going through me.”

“You make it sound simple,” Frank returned with a suspicious inflection.

“We have a numerical advantage, Mr. Chairman” Craig insisted in the same gruff tone. “And as long as you Directors maintain that advantage, then we are almost certain to win any military engagement with War-Machine DGP09.”

For several seconds the Directors had nothing to say in response to this statement. They looked among themselves as they considered each other’s expressions.

“We came to that consensus early on,” Director Ronald Dryer spoke up with a nod of his head. “But now that DGP09 doesn’t appear to be in the market for a second basestar, we have to wonder if we missed something.”

“They can’t afford a second basestar,” Craig answered with a quick retort. “That’s what is happening. I still think they may back out of this venture.”

“If they’re backing out, then why are they buying up starcruisers and converting them into battlestars?” Director Karrenbauer questioned with a stone face stare.

Director Karrenbauer was speaking of reports that DPG09 had purchased more than a dozen star-cruisers over the past 6 months and was reconstructing them into battlestars. Star-cruisers were the equivalent of an ocean-liner on Earth. Unlike cargo carrying spaceships, the primary purpose of a star-cruiser was the conveyance of large numbers of people across interstellar distances in comfort. Star-cruisers were virtually nonexistent before the implementation of star-drive technology. Before the advent of interstellar travel, spaceships serviced all the long-distance transportation needs within the Sol System. Spaceships accommodated dozens of passengers in more comfort than a spaceplane. Star-cruisers accommodated hundreds of passengers in a comfort that was greater than a spaceship. The smaller starcruisers boasted a maximum occupancy of little more than 300 people, and the largest were capable of more than 800. Starcruisers were comparable to battlestars in size and in capabilities. The only things lacking were armor and armaments.

“Because 50 battlestars are cheaper than 1 basestar,” Craig returned to Director Karrenbauer's question with a wave of his hand. “It’s a desperate measure. They’re trying to bridge the gap between the size of our war-machine and there’s.”

“You think they’re trying to even the odds on the cheap?” Director Sanjay Kazem questioned with an inflection of intrigue.

“It’s the only thing they can do,” Craig answered as though he was speaking the obvious.

“Can they do that?” Frank asked from behind a concerned stare.

“It would take 100 battlestars, and they don’t have nearly that many,” Craig returned with an inflection of rebuff. “There are only 37 starcruisers in the Starcorp League and no battlestars. We don’t make them because everybody knows that it’s better to construct one basestar rather than 100 battlestars.”

Craig paused to give weight to his last remark, and then he began to speak his final remark on the question with a definitive intonation.

“Battlestars are just screening vessels—something for a starfighter to fight through before taking on the basestar. Starfighters are the hunter/killers of space, and basestars are the motherships of starfighters—you kill the basestar, you kill starfighters. That’s all you need to do win a space battle.”

Craig’s words reflected the accepted position within the starcorp community. Battlestars were thought to be screening vessels for basestars and stand-alone gunships for small police actions. It was universally accepted that basestars were too large for small conflicts. The weaponry built into a basestar along with the 500 starfighters in its docking bay made it a massive over kill for anything less than full scale space warfare. On the other hand, battlestars, with their small compliment of starfighters, a dozen or less, were considered ideal for commerce raiding, pirating or for rebuffing the actions of tiny militant factions. The absence of battlestars within the starcorps until now was testimony to the fact that all these events had yet to occur within the community.

The production of battlestars was an Earth knee-jerk response to the loses they endured in the RG01/UFP war. After the starcorps fled the Sol System, basestars and starfighters were beyond the remaining civilizations’ financial and technological capability. And it was anticipated that this condition would be in place through the near future. Battlestars were not a part of this failing. The construction of a battlestar was not unlike constructing a spaceship. The big differences were in battlestars’ greater size and in its extensive armor and armament. So great was the UEF’s fear of a return of the starcorps, they constructed battlestars near to the exclusion of all other projects sitting in wait in the Sol System.

From the perspective of the starcorps, the relative value of battlestars was based on little more than a general perception. There was no programming to explore the capabilities of a battlestar in a simulator. Battlestars were just a theoretical concept when the first war-machine was built. In the RG01/UFP War that freed the starcorps from the threat of Earth control, constructing a battlestar was considered an unnecessary expense as well as a financial risk. No one could explain the use or the need for a battlestar. Earth’s United Front Pact Space Force had no battlestars and they had no starfighters. Before the WDF02/UEF War, the addition of battlestars was considered and rejected by WDF02 Commanding Officer, ADM Nathan Lazaro. The reason for the rejection was the time and expense to manufacture them and because the UEF had no starfighters to threaten his basestars. The thinking in the starcorp military community was that a battlestar’s only use in a full-scale space war was to defend the basestars from starfighters. Their offensive capability was deemed insignificant when compared to starfighters. An early 21st Century military parallel might look like a heavily armed and armored tank trying to fight off a team of light attack helicopters. Since the UEF had no starfighters, the expense of manufacturing a battlestar was deemed unwarranted.

“But DGP09 has a large force of starfighters,” Frank advised hesitantly. “Don’t you think we should have some battlestars?”

“It’s not large enough,” Craig countered. “We have a 2 to 1 advantage in starfighters and in basestars. That’s more than enough to win this fight.”

“I’d rather not take any chances,” Frank quickly disagreed.

The other Directors were silent. None of them knew what side to take in this discussion, and all were eager to hear both positions.

“There’s not enough time to build and integrate battlestars into the war-machine,” Craig explained with an inflection of dismay.

“The Sol System Union has battlestars,” Frank retorted with a sharp delivery.

Craig understood the meaning in this statement without giving it any thought. This suggestion was anticipated, and the options for doing it had already been considered by him.

“They don’t have star-drives,” Craig explained with a dismissive nod of his head.

“So, we install them with star-drives,” Frank argued back.

“Then we have to buy the battlestars,” Craig replied in a tone that was akin to an adult giving instructions to 5-year-old child.

“Why?” Frank asked with an astonished inflection.

Craig was bored with this subject from the moment it started. He had considered the option of adding battlestars to his command, and he had already considered the ways for doing it. Answering the questions of the Board of Directors was just a revisit of thoughts he entertained numerous times in the past. What made this revisit more boring was the fact that he did not want the battlestars, and this disposition was reflected by the exasperation he put into his answer to Frank's question.

“Because of the Starcorp League mandate that we not update the Sol System with starcorp technology, especially military technology.

Frank paused to recall this Starcorp League mandate. The other Directors murmured their recollections of this mandate.

“Okay, how much are we talking about?” Frank questioned after a brief thought.

“One battlestar would be of no value and 10 would be a significant expense,” Craig explained with a nod that said he disagreed with where this was going. “Directors,” he continued with an intonation of insistence in his voice. “We can get the battlestars, but I promise you, they’re not necessary. That money would be better spent upgrading our basestars with robotic docking racks. That could give me an additional 1,000 spacefighters, assuming the Board’s willingness to purchase them,” he continued glibly. “If you want to give me something, give me that,” Craig finished with finality.

The latter part of Craig’s response captured the intrigue and the imagination of the Directors. Everyone there knew about the new robotic docking rack that was being advertised by Starcorp JJL02 and ADM Nathan Lazaro, a co-developer and investor in the product. This new docking rack promised to exploit the unused space in the docking bay of basestars to hold and maintain twice as many starfighters.

Free floating space made up more than half of the room in the docking bays of all basestars constructed to this date. The empty space was used by vehicles to maneuver and cluster into formations inside the basestar. The individual docking stalls were fixed inside a latticework that was built into the ceiling and opposite to the large docking bay doors in the underside of the basestar. The design advantage of the robotic docking rack was its ability to fill up 80% of the space in the bay with docking stalls. Detractors argued that the system would slow down the launch and retrieval of large numbers of starfighters and that it would stop the activity completely when the robotic docking rack became damaged during a battle. These arguments that prevented the installation of the robotic docking rack when Colossus and Goliath were constructed. These detractions also spurred research and development that produced ways to speed up launches and retrievals and ways to keep it operating around catastrophic damage to any area of the rack. The advancements made the robotic docking rack more attractive, but it did not stop the criticisms.

“I like it!”

Director Kazem’s resounding endorsement took everyone by surprise. All eyes turned in his direction.

“That’s what we should do,” Director Kazem continued with verve. “That would give us a four to one advantage in starfighters.”

“That’s an overwhelming advantage over DPG,” Director Ventura spoke to himself as much as he was speaking to everyone else.

“I agree,” Director Felton affirmed in a stout voice. “I think it’s the way to go.”

Everyone but Frank was displaying their approval in their expressions. Craig was nearly gleaming with pride over his accomplishment.

“So, we do them both,” Frank declared as he studied the other board members for signs of approval or the opposite.

“I don’t think we need to do both,” Director Samuel Hamada suggested with a tentative delivery.

“It’s a waste of money,” Director Kazem declared decidedly. “We’ve already increased our investment in this venture by half. Buying 10 or more battlestars on top of upgrading Colossus and Goliath and purchasing 1,000 more starfighters and hiring the pilots to fly them is an extravagance.”

“But over the long run, it’s an extravagance that we can afford,” Frank returned with a hint of desperation in his voice.

“I disagree,” Director Kazem disputed. “Who’s to say there won’t be future challenges to our contract with the Sol System Union.”

“Director Kazem is right,” Director Joel Bobrov spoke up without hesitation. “There’s nothing to stop the Tellurian Resistance from doing this a second and a third time.”

Frank understood the thinking behind Director Bobrov and Director Kazem's words. The Sol System Union had no incentive to renegotiate their contract with WDF02 or enter into an additional contract. It was understood by them both that WDF02 had to defend the Sol System Union Government because of the contracts they already had. If DGP09 forced the Sol System Union out of power, all those contracts would disappear.

“I say we do the basestar upgrades, buy the additional starfighters and kick the battlestars down the road when we can afford to gamble.

Director Kazem's suggestion resonated with all the Board members except for Frank. Murmurs of agreement and nods of heads could be heard and seen around the table. Frank took notice of this with a look up and down both sides of the table.

“I think we should vote on it,” Director Marinelli urged as she leaned forward over the table to speak.

Frank could see that further discussion on the subject would accomplish nothing. He was not convinced that he was right, and Director Kazem was wrong or vice versa. He did know that he was worried about this DPG09 challenge, and this anxiety was causing him to be extra cautious. His recognition of this condition brought him to the decision that he needed to let the vote happen and live with result. It took 30 seconds for the WDF02 Board of Directors to agree to make the upgrades to the basestars, buy the additional starfighters, hire more pilots to fly them and to take a pass on purchasing battlestars at this time. Frank was the only board member to not vote yes to this plan.


	19. Place Your Bets

The Warburg Majestic Casino was the wealthiest and most extravagant casino in all the starcorps. This distinction was owed to the fact that Starship Warburg was a BX01 property and because the wealthy and powerful from throughout the Starcorp League came here to make their biggest deals. BX01 was also the location where the largest investments in adult play and pleasures was being done.

Warburg was one of 4 starships that comprised the BX01 Starcorp League administrative hub. The Berenberg was the largest starship in the BX01 cluster. Inside its habitat ring were all BX01's banking, finance, exchange and insurance work spaces and office structures. There was also an abundance of legal, executive and government office spaces inside to meet the needs of business and political representatives from throughout the starcorp community. In addition, the Berenberg was loaded with showrooms, convention centers, auditoriums, restaurants, luxurious hotels and several dozen opulent homes. The Giannini and the Rothschild were the 2 smallest starships in the cluster. They provided most of the living spaces for the employees who ran, maintained and serviced BX01. The Warburg's position as the second largest starship made it the ideal location for much of the starcorp's assortment of amusement, recreation and entertainment enterprises.

The most common and lucrative entertainment business throughout the starcorps were casinos. Every starcorp had at least one and usually several casinos within their dominions. There was nothing new about the presence of casinos in starcorps. The Warburg Majestic Casino came into existence 23 years before the starcorps fled the Sol System. Little had changed internally since its conception. There had been many decorative and presentational changes over the course of this time, but the games of chance that it offered remained unchanged until now.

Nearly a year had passed since the start of work to upgrade the docking bays inside the WDF02 basestars Colossus and Goliath. Installation of the robotic docking rack was completed more than 2 months earlier. Testing and training in its operation were ongoing. The DGP09 War Machine was more than a month into drills and practice maneuvers in preparation for the coming war. Publicized reports on both events helped to engender an anxious excitement throughout the Starcorp League, and the casinos took notice. Odds were being put up and wagers were being made in every casino in the League.

Gambling on an event that was occurring outside the home star system of the casino had not been done before. The time delay discouraged any thought of doing so. The universal interest in the outcome of the coming battle between DGP09 and WDF02 caused this event to be an exception to this paradigm. Everyone had an opinion on who would win, and most were willing to place a bet on it.

The casinos listed this coming war on their sportsbook boards and attached odds based upon their calculus of each war-machine’s strengths and weaknesses. To speed up the accumulation of information about each war-machine, the casinos throughout the league came together to orchestrate the financing of Radstar, a null space data relay network. This was a startup service that owed its promise to a well-known fact among most starcorp inhabitants. Data can be exchanged in null space from one spaceship to another.

The problem with communicating across real space was that transmissions took decades to reach the closes neighboring star system. Normally, null-space wireless transmissions got absorbed into the ether of the void. The transmission of data from one spaceship to another in null-space was possible when the temporal fields of the 2 vessels were in sync and touching. Creating a network of communication vessels was always known to be theoretically feasible. It was the expense that held up the implementation.

The financing concern that had the Starcorp League dragging its feet had to do with the size and number of these communication vessels they would need to deploy to link the starcorps to each other. It took the power output of a starship or basestar to generate a temporal bubble that enveloped two or more star-systems. Building communication vessels of this size to do nothing but sit stationary in null-space and exchange data was an expense that had yet to find financial backing, until now. Casinos throughout the Starcorp League were desperate for timely information about the upcoming war. This kind of near real-time need-to-know about something occurring in another star-system did not exist on this scale before. A desire for updates on the coming war is what motivated casinos throughout the Starcorp League to band together and leverage the Radstar Communication Network into existence.

In the initial stage, the Radstar executives elected to go with spaceship size communication vessels. This decision was motivated by the fact that there were thousands of spaceships within the starcorp community. Purchasing and converting several hundred of these spaceships was quick and easy. The large number of spaceships was needed because of the small temporal bubbles they produced relative to a starship. This meant that they would have to be strung out across the starcorp community in chains of twenty to thirty between most neighboring star-systems. The prolonged maintenance of null-space bubbles was never a concern. Nearly 100% of the energy needed in null-space travel was in the breach of the null-space threshold and in the size of the temporal field being created. This was thought of as being synonymous with blowing up a balloon. All the work is in the blowing of air into the balloon. Tying off the opening was the only requirement for the maintenance of the inflated balloon.

The proof that Radstar was up and working was estimated to be a few hours away. Two hours earlier, a simple math problem was sent from BX01’s Majestic Casino to the Andromeda Casino in Starcorp N3XR02. This starcorp was chosen because it was farther away from BX01 than any other. The answer to the equation was expected to arrive within an estimated ten-hour window, if all went as hoped.

The approximate time of the arrival of this reply was based on the expectation that a series of data exchanges were executed without fail. Specially designed spaceships were used to complete these data exchanges, but there was nothing exotic or excessively expensive about them. In many ways the opposite was true. The communication spaceships did not have habitat rings. They were configured to operate without the assistance of a human occupant. Where these communication spaceships exceeded the average spaceship was in power. The power plants inside a communication spaceship produced four times the energy of the average spaceship three times its size. Communication spaceships were built to produce power, but the primary beneficiary of this power was the temporal field projector.

The smallest temporal projector is five times the size of the average spaceplane. Their large size is the reason why only spaceships and starships have them. Two separate temporal projectors of equivalent size would seldom have more than a single digit percentage of difference in capability between them. To significantly add to the capability of a temporal projector, two or more of them had to be linked together. This was common in spaceships and starships, but this too came at a price. Temporal projectors had to be sustained by a significant and steady supply of power. When power to a temporal projector is shut down, the temporal reaction being sustained inside it dies out. A rebuilt projector would have to be installed to replace it. Spaceships and starships installed only as many temporal field projectors as they could afford to sustain. The power demands of the habitat and the structural integrity of the spaceship were the two greatest limiting factors to the number of temporal field projectors a spaceship or starship had. Spaceships that were built for speed did away with habitat rings and put as many reactors and temporal field projectors as they could in a sturdy compact package. This was the basic design of communication spaceships. Communication spaceships maintained three times as many temporal projectors as spaceships of equivalent size.

Extracting data from these communication spaceships was the work of relay spaceships. These relay spaceships were expected to accelerate near to the speed of light and then sustain that speed for the duration of their in-service time. The period of in-service operation of a relay spaceship was expected to last from several weeks to several months before it was swapped out by another relay spaceship. While it was in null space, the function of a relay spaceship was to connect with the communication spaceship and exchange data transmissions. While it was in real space, the function of a relay spaceship was to exchange data transmissions with the starcorp that they serviced. This was to be done while the relay spaceship was moving near the speed of light. There was no need to slow down, and not slowing down was the directive. This high speed in real space was a necessary requirement.

While in null space, a relay spaceship needed only to sync its temporal field with the temporal field of the communication spaceship in the area. To match the time dilation of the temporal field bubble produced by the communication spaceship, the small relay spaceship minimized the amount of energy it needed to produce a null-space barrier breach. This is the effect that high speed had on temporal field projections. When a spaceship is moving slow through real space, the energy needed to breach the temporal field barrier is high. When a spaceship is moving fast through real space, the energy needed to breach the temporal field barrier is low. This speed effect is always used to influence temporal field size. The maximum size of the temporal field bubble was depended upon the capability of each temporal field projector, the power output of the spaceship’s reactors and the speed that the spaceship is moving at the breach of null space.

“Welcome,” Sergey loudly greeted with a large smile and raised arms. “I’m so glad that you could come.”

Frank and Charlotte were wandering through the main room of the casino when Sergey Ivanov saw them on the monitor in his office and ran out to greet them. Sergey was the manager of the Warburg Majestic Casino and a partial owner. His height, weight and features were average, but it was his attire and grooming that lent an elegance to his appearance. His behavior toward Frank and Charlotte was mildly fawning. It was clear to anyone looking, Sergey was immensely pleased to see Frank in his casino.

“I wouldn't miss it,” Frank returned to Sergey's remark as he scanned the casino.

Frank was not the only person there waiting for the return message from the Andromeda Casino. The Majestic Casino was filled with patrons eager to see if a return message would come within the ten-hour window it was estimated to arrive in. A timer in all the wall and hanging monitors was calculating up from the start of the ten-hour window. At this moment, it was displaying seven hours and a quarter more since the start of the return message window. 

“Good, good,” Sergey cheerfully approved Frank's reply. “Make yourselves at home. You're my special guests. Food and drinks are on me.”

“Thank you,” Frank replied with a turn to look at Sergey's smiling face.

The two men shook hands, and Sergey threw in a slight bow from the hips. Frank entertained this mildly servile behavior from Sergey with the façade of being pleased by the display. He grinned and nodded at a pace equal to his greeter. Charlotte gave little attention to this activity and looked about at the casino with an admiring smile. She was clothed in a glittering figure-hugging evening gown and modestly adorned with expensive jewelry. Frank was dressed in a sharply cut suit that matched the groom of his hair.

“The place looks great,” Charlotte announced with a wide smile.

Sergey positioned himself alongside Frank and Charlotte as he began to impart on the changes and additions that were recently done to the casino. The three of them strolled through the main room as Sergey lauded the improvements.

“It looks different,” Frank commented as they walked.

“I like it,” Charlotte heartened to Sergey with enthusiasm.

“So, are the changes for the rollout of Radstar?” Frank questioned with a look toward Sergey for a response.

“Yes,” Sergey answered without hesitation. “Radstar is going to change everything.”

“It hasn’t worked yet,” Frank returned with a dubious shake of his head and a smile. “And you’re running out of time.”

“It’ll work,” Sergey retorted enthusiastically. “And we owe it all to you,” Sergey continued with glee in his voice. “This all started with your contract with the Earthers and now this war with DPG has Casinos all through the League taking in record bets on the outcome. And with Radstar we can get news about current events in a few hours instead of two to seven months. This is going to reconnect the starcorps.”

Frank accepted this answer with a dubious look. The clock was ticking ever closer to the end of the ten-hour window, and Frank had his doubts that the return message from the Andromeda Casino in Starcorp N3XR02 would arrive any time soon, and he was not alone in his opinion. The casino sportsbook had the odds at 3 to 1 against the return message coming within the ten-hour window and 2 to 1 against it returning within the next twenty days.

“I hope you’re right,” Frank responded with a smile to Sergey’s rousing declaration.

After a few minutes of walking, Frank, Charlotte and Sergey came to a stop just inside the High Limit Gaming Lounge. This room was small by comparison to the casino main floor, and it was less crowded with people and games. Slot machines dominated the room, and much of the remaining space supported table games. The room was full of people gambling, drinking and talking. Unlike the main room, there was still room enough to move three steps without bumping into another person.

“As you can see, everyone is here,” Sergey declared with pride.

Mingling about in the room was a who’s who of the rich and powerful. At a glance, it appeared that half of the people in the room were big business financiers with publically familiar faces and the other half consisting of their attractive plus ones. Several individuals noted Frank's entry into the room, and a few gave him a wave or a nod. Charlotte returned the attention of several in the room with a smile and a wave. Frank had slowly looked around the room before settling his gaze on the distinctive hair and broad back of Ryan DeWitt seated at a Blackjack table. 

“Please, enjoy the amenities,” Sergey proffered after noting who had Frank's attention.

Sergey gave a parting bow and then left Frank and Charlotte to enjoy the room. Seconds after his departure, Frank began to walk toward the Blackjack table where Ryan was seated. The burly Ryan was richly adorned in a velvet tuxedo. Standing by his side was his consort, an exceedingly attractive young man. His clothing had a feminine flare and his face was adorned with makeup. None of this was shocking for this room or for the starcorps in general. All forms of sexuality were acceptable here. Charlotte held on to Frank's arm as she followed his lead. Frank steered his way to a vacant chair that was situated second from the left end of table. The table was a semicircle and had seven positions. Ryan was seated at the chair third from the right end. Ryan’s consort gave Charlotte a smile and a wave, and she returned the gesture with equal felicity.

After seating himself in the vacant chair, Frank pressed his wand to the rectangular monitor built into the table while speaking the command, “computer connect-enter.” The rectangle lit up into a computer touch screen that was linked to his wand. Frank began to negotiate the computer screen commands with well-practiced taps and swipes with his fingers.

“Do you like to gamble, Mr. Weaver?” Ryan queried as he looked at Frank with an amused expression.

An instant after Frank stopped tapping into the computer touch screen, and just before Ryan asked his question, a streak of light built into the table began blinking in rapid succession from the direction of the dealer’s station to Frank’s touch screen. The presence of the light alerted the dealer that Frank had purchased some chips. He glanced down at his monitor, noted the purchase amount, collected the chips in the appropriate quantity from the dispenser at his station and slid them across to Frank. The lights stopped blinking when the chips registered inside Frank’s touch screen.

“Not particularly, normally I don’t gamble with money,” Frank returned as he positioned and organized his chips.

“What do you gamble with, Mr. Weaver?” Ryan questioned with a sly undertone in his voice.

The dealer began calling for bets in a soft voice and with hand gestures. Frank pushed his ante forward just as he began speaking his answer.

“I gamble on myself.”

“Oh, that's true of all gamblers,” Ryan disputed pleasantly and with a smile. “Gamblers are people who think they're smarter than everyone else.”

“Gamblers are people who place their fates in the role of some dice, the spin of a wheel or the fall of the cards,” Frank corrected. “I prefer to gamble on my talents—my ingenuity.”

“So, you think you’re crafty,” Ryan responded with a smile. “You gamble on your skills. I can respect that. Gambling on luck is a fool's wager.”

In the middle of Ryan’s discourse, the dealer began passing out cards to the five players at the table.

“Still, it is possible to make a fool’s wager, even when you’re gambling on yourself,” Frank softly returned as he watched the fall of the cards.

Ryan gave Frank’s reply a momentary chuckle. He stopped to tap down on the table for the dealer to deal him a card and then another. He waved the dealer off after the second card and then began speaking his reply with a hint of a laugh in his voice.

“Only fools make a fool’s wager. Win or lose, succeeding in life is about being strong, smart and prepared. You’re just a nobody if you don’t put a bet on the table.”

Frank tapped down on the table for a card and then a second card as he listened to Ryan’s return. He waved off on a third and then looked toward Ryan just as he began to speak.

“But when you’re not prepared for what’s about to happen, then the smart thing to do is back away from the table.”

“That’s where the fun comes in,” Ryan responded quick and with a decide smile. “Who is the better man?”

“Losing isn't fun,” Ryan contradicted gently. “Especially if you lose big.”

“True,” Ryan conceded hesitantly. “But high-stake bets can be exciting.”

The dealer turned over his card and announced that Frank was the only winner at the table. The dealer was in the middle of collecting the bets of the other players when a roar of cheers resounded through the casino. Everyone who was not looking at the wall and ceiling monitors suddenly began looking around for the reason behind this outburst. Within seconds, all eyes focused in on one of the many wall or ceiling monitors in the casino. In the display was the message:

Beth Stevens, Andromeda Casino, Starcorp N3XR02

To: Sergey Ivanov, Majestic Casino, Starcorp BX01

Equation: 12x + 32 = 176

Answer: x = 12

The dealer was awed by this message for several seconds and did nothing but stare at it. At the end of this time, he glanced at the gamers across the table, flashed a wide smile, and then he pushed Frank’s winnings over to him.

“Congratulations,” the dealer complimented with a nod.

Frank accepted the compliment with no response. His attention had already turned back toward Ryan. He exchanged a brief stare, and then he began to speak.

“You’re going to lose,” Frank coldly retorted.

Frank stood up from his seat, took a chip off his winnings and slid it over to the dealer.

“Thank you,” the dealer quickly spoke with a nod.

“Enjoy your winnings while it lasts,” Ryan enunciated with disdain in his voice.

Frank slid the remainder of the chips onto the rectangular touch screen monitor built into table, raised his arm that had the wand wrapped around the wrist and then spoke to it.

“Computer, deposit my winnings-enter.”

Frank’s wand verbally acknowledged the command, and then the rectangular computer touch screen in the table lit up. A streak of light from Frank’s touch screen to the dealer’s station began blinking in rapid succession toward the dealer. The dealer noted the activity on his monitor, and then collected the chips that were in front of Frank. When the chips were back in the dispenser, the lights went out.

“I will,” Frank answered back just before turning and walking away with Charlotte on his arm.


	20. Prepare to do Battle

“Admiral, we are in Sol System Outer Orbit, just beyond the track of Neptune,” Captain Raymond Smith reported from his escape pod. “All spaceships of the fleet have reported in and are converging on our location. ETA on formation reset is 2.3 hours. Speed is .47 LS. No com chatter detected in the near or distant expanse. Shall I extend sensors, Admiral?”

“Set sensors at combat distance,” ADM Kenneth McCall returned casually. “Hold speed and trajectory. Report back when all spaceships are in formation.”

War-Machine DPG09 jumped into Sol System space less than a minute before this exchange. The entire force consisted of the Basestar Orion, 867 starfighters and 47 battlestars. Nearly three years had passed since the Supreme Court of the Starcorp League ruled that the Tellurian Resistance was within its rights to challenge the dominion of the Sol System Union. The Sol System inhabitants were, by this time, just beginning to acclimate to their existence under this new government. The legalities and confusion that came with changes in the occupants and duties of dozens of government offices on Earth were mostly settled. A new entrepreneurial spirit was blooming now that the yolk of the ruling party under the United Earth Federation Government was gone.

To this date, little had been done to advance the industrialization of the Sol System beyond where it was when the WDF02 took military control of the star system. Prior to that, the UEF had setback Earth's development of the Sol System with its preparations for war with the WDF02. After the war, the Sol System Union spent much of the next three years detangling and reorganizing Earth’s government, industry and financial sectors. Despite this period of adjustment, it was not an unfruitful time for Starcorp WDF02. Some commerce was taking place between the Sol System Union and the Starcorp League, and this was growing. The influx of Earthers eager to migrate into the starcorps began almost immediately. As the middleman between the Sol System Union and the Starcorp at large, the WDF02 profited from these transactions. However, the greatest wealth of income was expected to occur when the industrial might of the Sol System started living up to its potential. For the Sol System Union and WDF02, the invasion of DPG09 was a threat to this bounty.

“All spaceships are in position, Admiral,” Captain Smith called out from his escape pod and out across the space capsule.

ADM McCall spent the last two and a quarter hour tweaking the message he wanted to deliver. He had nothing else to do, and it was his habit to write and rewrite manuscripts up until the moment he submitted them or until something more pressing lured him away. In this instance he had nothing to do but wait for Captain Smith's report. After hearing that his war-machine had come together, ADM McCall turned his attention to the monitors that were displaying the disposition of his command.

“Open a broadband RF, un-coded,” ADM McCall called out.

The officer in-charge of monitoring communications originating from outside the Orion and controlling transmissions originating from within quickly acted on the command. The computer terminal inside ADM McCall's pod reported that an open radio channel had been activated in his pod. ADM McCall took a prolonged pause. He knew that his next act would set into motion something that he and his command might not survive. At the end of his pause, he took a deep breath, exhaled and began to speak in a confident voice.

“This is Admiral Kenneth McCall, the commanding officer of War-Machine DPG09. My present location is Sol System Space just beyond the track of Neptune. I am speaking to the governing officers of the Sol System Union and all armed forces under their control. I order you to surrender dominion of the Sol System to the leaders of the Tellurian Resistance and to me under pain of physical harm or death if you do not comply. In keeping with Starcorp League practice, DPG09 will make no arrests and will make no attempt at redress for past deeds. In addition, all requests for sanctuary and asylum will be given hearings and adjudicated on a case by case basis. These provisions will be true if and whenever the Sol System Union surrenders. This message will repeat hourly for the duration of one Earth cycle; armed conflict will start at any time after that. This is Admiral Kenneth McCall, signing out.”

After shutting down the transmission, ADM McCall turned his attention to his command. He knew that any engagement with WDF02 was several days and possibly more than a week away. A reply to his ultimatum was a minimum of eight hours away and far more likely to be twice that if he got one at all. With this knowledge, ADM McCall announced the end of General Quarters and reopened the habitat rings. After that, he retired to his quarters in Orion’s habitat ring and settled in for the wait.

The DPG09 war-machine was on a trajectory that would cause it to have a narrow oval orbit around the backside of the sun. Twelve hours down this trajectory, the DPG09 Fleet was beneath Neptune's solar orbit and moving deeper into the system. The fleet was still waiting for a reply when ADM McCall awoke from a five-hour sleep. He was not surprised by the report. In his mind, there was always a 50/50 chance that he would not get an immediate response. In ADM McCall’s mind, the silence meant that WDF02 would probably not respond until they were in position to engage with them. He suspected they might not want to broadcast their position. This thinking was not limited to ADM McCall. The officers and crew of the entire fleet were of the belief that WDF02 was coming, and that their appearance and their reply were being coordinated to happen at the same time. When and where this would be was guess work for the crew. Without a visual fix on the location of the WDF02 War-Machine, they could not speculate on an arrival time. A visual fix on WDF02 would give them a way of knowing that the war-machine had generated a time-jump bubble.

By staying silent, ADM McCall and his command had no specific radio signal to triangulate. Without that information, they had too much space to examine. However, the plethora of radio signals emanating out from the inner solar system did give them much to listen to, and much of that data was encrypted. Deciphering the encrypted transmissions would take too long to be of any value, and so they were ignored. It was also understood that the WDF02 War-Machine was likely using lasers to communicate with each other. Radio waves would have given them a precise area of the black of space to visually examine. Lasers made it possible for multiple spaceships to have secure point-to-point communications. From DPG09's perspective, the WDF02 War-Machine was a microscopic speck of reflective material afloat in an ocean of black sprinkled with billions of stars so distant that they look like needle holes of light in the fabric of space. Finding the WDF02 war-machine in all of that was an impossible task.

Currently, there was no great advantage to hiding in the black of space. ADM McCall took this to be a ploy. Keeping their location hidden until the last moment had to be an effort to rattle the men and women under his command, and in this it was successful. As time went on, the officers and crew of the fleet grew more anxious. Two days into their wait, the personnel of the fleet began to move about like zombies. They had little to say to each other. The wait filled their minds with wonderings about when the engagement would happen and how it would turn out. To distract the officers and crew of his fleet from these thoughts, ADM McCall began running battle-station drills and formation maneuver exercises.

Most of the maneuver exercises involved the use of battlestars to rearm starfighters. ADM McCall put a high priority on running these maneuvers as quickly as possible. All the battlestars in the DPG09 Fleet carried starfighters externally. The number of starfighters they could carry varied between six and ten. When a starfighter was attached to one of their docking stations, battlestars had the capability to fully rearm and partially repair it. Both acts were performed by maintenance bots under the control of crew members secured inside one of the battlestar's space capsules. Repetitive exercises of docking, reloading and launching was crucial to the development of speed and efficiency, but it was barely needed by this time. Several months earlier, ADM McCall had sharpened this capability within his crews to its best speed. Keeping his crews busy for the duration of their wait was the new priority.

Seventeen days after ADM McCall’s ultimatum, the DPG09 War-Machine had nothing that resembled a reply. Radio crosstalk and encoded transmissions were plentiful, but an open transmission directed at them had yet to occur. On the 18th day, a new wave of energy was detected by sensors throughout the fleet.

“Sensors have detected an energy burst,” the command capsule’s senior officer reported in a huff through his com-link. “The energy wave is weak; the point of origin is far outside of our sensor field, but the signature is a match for a time-jump burst. We’re visually scanning the center of the burst now.”

ADM McCall needed to hear no more than that. He expected the energy burst from a time-jump event to announce the coming of the WDF02 War-Machine. He also anticipated that the enemy space force would re-enter real space at a distance that was far enough to prevent them from jumping inside their sensor field.

“Call to general quarters, all spaceships,” ADM McCall commanded into his com-link.

An instant after giving this command, ADM McCall disconnected his com-link connection and began changing his attire from dress uniform to space capsule jumpsuit. Twenty minutes later he was floating through the hatchway of his command capsule.

“Report!” ADM McCall commanded as he made his way to his escape pod.

“All fleet spaceships are transitioning to general quarters,” Captain Smith reported from his escape pod. “Scans have detected a single spaceship at the center of the energy burst. The type and size of the spaceship is unknown, but it’s on a trajectory that will intercept us in 11-hours and 22-minutes.”

ADM McCall did not hear anything that he was not expecting. It took 45-minutes, on average, for the crew of Basestar Orion to change their attire, secure the habitat ring and seal themselves into their space capsules. It took the battlestars eighteen-minutes less, on average, to do the same thing. All the spaceships of the DPG09 Fleet were still well within these time frames, and ADM McCall knew this before he asked for the report. The information that he did not know was the type and size of the spaceship at the center of the energy burst and its trajectory. The fact that it was on a trajectory that would intercept them was news he anticipated.

“How fast are they going?” ADM McCall snapped back at Captain Smith.

“Zero point eight-zero LS, give or take three-hundredths,” Captain Smith returned without hesitation.

ADM McCall took this report while holding a poker face stare at the monitor that was imaging the area of space where the mystery spaceship was said to be. All he could see of it was a glint of light reflecting off a speck in space.

“Report back to me when the fleet is at general quarters,” ADM McCall instructed Captain Smith in a stern voice.

ADM McCall went silent as he continued to stare at the black of space on the main monitor. He had been staring about five minutes when the communication officer called out.

“Admiral, I'm getting a video transmission. It's from the Basestar Colossus.”

“Play it,” ADM McCall instructed without a thought. “Put it on the big monitor.”

The communication officer tapped a few touch screen buttons on his personal monitor and activated the video message on to the main monitor. All eyes looked up to a still image of ADM Craig Chaffin’s head in the center of the main monitor. After a few seconds, the image went into motion and ADM Chaffin’s words began to resound out of the speakers.

“I am Admiral Chaffin, commanding officer of the WDF02 War-Machine, speaking to the officers and crews of War-Machine DPG09. Your presence in the Sol System has been deemed an act of war by my employers. Per their instructions, I am duty bound to capture or destroy you.”

ADM Chaffin paused behind his last remark to give it weight.

“I order you to surrender yourselves, and all spacecrafts and weaponry under your control. If you attempt to flee, you will be pursued; if you fight, we will use lethal force to subdue you.”

Once again, ADM Chaffin paused to give weight to his words.

“This offer to surrender may be redeemed at any time. No charges will be leveled against any officer or crewmember of DPG09 for legitimate military actions as defined by the Geneva Conventions, and all will be freed at the end of hostilities.”

To give weight to this statement, ADM McCall paused again.

“This offer has no influence on our plans to prosecute this war. We will engage at our earliest convenience. This is Admiral Chaffin signing off.”

The image of ADM Chaffin remained frozen for several seconds, and then it was replaced by a view of the black of space outside of the Orion. A silence filled the space capsule. All of ADM McCall's command capsule officers waited for him to give an order. ADM McCall took a moment to take in the magnitude of what he was about to do, and then he turned his attention toward Captain Smith.

“What is the status of the fleet?” ADM McCall queried in a soft voice.

Captain Smith looked down at the personal monitor in his escape pod to note the status of all spaceships in the fleet. Their overlapping sensor fields was the connection that made this communication network possible.

“All spaceships have reported in at general quarters,” Captain Smith returned in a voice that was just loud enough to be heard by ADM McCall without the intercom connection.

The space capsule was quiet with anxiousness for ADM McCall's next words. Despite this silence, he gave no thought to his command capsule crew. ADM McCall took a deep breath, initiated a fleet wide intercom connection and began to speak.

“This is Admiral McCall, make preparations for a time-jump.”


	21. Basestar Goliath

Captain Marc Larsen was the commanding officer of Basestar Goliath. When ADM Chaffin gave the order to pursue the DPG09 War-Machine into null-space, he was already preparing for the time-jump. CAPT Larsen knew that they could not let the Orion Basestar get away. The mission objective outlined by the WDF02 Board of Directors was known to all the officers of the fleet. CAPT Larsen was ready to pursue the DPG09 War-Machine the instant it jumped into null-space, and he needed nothing more than a greenlight from his immediate superior to commence his pursuit.

“I think we’ve got something,” the helm officer declared over his intercom with an inflection of surprise.

CAPT Larsen was surprised as well. He was expecting a dozen minutes to pass before detecting anything that was registering in the basestar’s sensors. The Goliath was in null space for less than 20 seconds when the sensors began registering a faint magnetic signature. This meant that they were close enough to the same temporal field frequency as another spaceship to sense its presence, but this did not tell them if it was friend or foe. Visual identification was nonexistent in null space. The two spaceships needed to merge their temporal fields and exchange data to learn the identity of the other.

“Don’t let it get away,” CAPT Larsen instructed an instant after hearing the helm officer’s report.

CAPT Larsen knew that his helm officer was trying to merge with the temporal field around this magnetic signature without any direction from him. His words were just an encouragement for him to do his best.

“There’s no chance of that,” the helm officer reported without thinking. “The reading on the time spectrum is high—very high. It’s still inside the Sol System.”

Height and depth, and high and low, were words used to indicate when a spaceship was moving forward or back in time. Spaceships that were low on the time dilation spectrum were moving back in time. The lower they were, the faster they were moving back in time and the further ahead of lightspeed they were effectively traveling in real space. Spaceships that were high on the time dilation spectrum were moving forward in time. The higher they were, the faster they were moving forward in time and the further back from lightspeed they were effectively traveling in real space.

“And the signature is strange,” the helm officer continued after a pause to study something that was confusing him. “It’s almost reading like a pulse.”

“Helm,” CAPT Larsen called through his microphone. “Where’s this signal headed?”

“It doesn’t appear to be headed anywhere, Admiral,” the helm officer reported back. “I estimate that we’re moving two-thirds slower than lightspeed in real-space, and it appears to be following the curvature of the star system.”

This report confused CAPT Larsen. When the DPG09 Fleet jumped into null space, he thought that it was trying to get away. To do this, it should be moving back in time while moving away from the star system. This report from his helm officer told CAPT Larsen that this DPG09 spaceship they were tracking was moving forward in time while slowly moving forward in real space. It gradually dawned on him that the DPG09 Fleet was not trying to get away. His mind began entertaining the idea that they were tracking a solo battlestar, but this quickly made no sense to him. Battlestars are far smaller than a basestar and should be the last thing their sensors detect. It was also illogical for a battlestar to stray off on its own. A single battlestar with its small compliment of starfighters would be easy prey for a basestar.

“I’m detecting two more magnetic signatures,” the helm officer nearly yelled into his headphone. “And they’re moving toward us.”

This report startled CAPT Larsen into rethinking the idea that they were tracking battlestars, and that they might be amplifying their magnetic signatures somehow. This seemed to be the only answer that explained why they were detecting them ahead of the Orion Basestar.

“We’re in sync with the first signature,” the operations officer yelled out with surprise in his voice. “It’s a battlestar size spaceship,” the helm officer continued his report after a pause to discern the data on his computer monitor. “And, Captain, it just merged into our temporal field.”

A virtual alarm went off inside CAPT Larsen’s head. He did not know what was happening, but he now knew that it was deliberate. His mind quickly turned to options to counter this inexplicable threat. While his brain was doing this, helm began announcing a new report.

“Two more spaceships have just merged with us,” the operations called out with greater surprise in his voice. “We’re linked with three battlestar size spaceships and sensors are registering another magnetic signature nearby.”

“Turn away!” CAPT Larsen yelled out behind the sudden realization that they were in a trap.

“We’re egressing!” The helm officer shouted over the tail end of CAPT Larsen’s command.

CAPT Larsen stopped to look at the monitors with wide-eyed amazement. The static he would have expected to see while the basestar was in null-space was now showing the rotating star-speckled backdrop of real-space.

“We’re tumbling,” the helm officer reported as a matter of function. “Activating stabilizing thrusters.”

It was clear to CAPT Larsen what had happened. He anticipated this event an instant before it happened. The multiple spaceships that merged with them in null-space shorted out the temporal field by initiating their sensor field projectors. This act caused them all to breach null-space as a single event and explode apart into separate segments of that event in that same instant.

“What’s our speed?” CAPT Larsen called out with a sudden awareness of the ramifications of what just happened.

“We’re at zero point one-four LS,” the helm officer reported back.

“Battle stations!” CAPT Larsen yelled out without hesitation. “All available power to main thrusters. Launch a starfighter wing.”

The call to battle stations had numerous automatic effects. One of these effects was that the extension of the sensor field to combat-range. The launching of the starfighter wing, and the activation of the main thrusters were commands that were not automatic with a call to battle stations. Both needed their own verbal commands to be initiated, and each needed specification to the extent of application.

An instant after these commands rang out, the capsule lit up with lights and activity. The crew of the command capsule began speaking instructions into their headphones to individuals in other capsules. Throughout the basestar, robots were preparing the spaceship and the starfighters for combat. Each robot was being operated by a crewman in a space capsule.

“What orders should I give to the starfighter pilots?” The starfighter command officer yelled out.

“Defend the basestar,” CAPT Larsen roared back as though he was telling his starfighter command officer the obvious.

CAPT Larsen came to a quick understanding of his situation when the Goliath came tumbling out of null space. He suspected that it was three DPG09 Battlestars that shorted out Goliath’s temporal field. And he knew this act divided out the average null-space ingress speed of all four spaceships into equal portions for each. This meant that Goliath’s egress speed out of null-space would be one-quarter of the average speed of all four spaceships. By CAPT Larsen’s estimation Goliath was more than twelve hours away from reaching time-jump speed. The snare had been triggered.

“Admiral, the sensor field is registering three battlestar size spaceships,” the operations officer called out.

“What are they doing?” Larsen questioned as he examined the sensor feed.

The data from Goliath’s sensor field showed the three battlestars were too far out to fire on the Goliath with any hope of hitting it, and they were too far away from each other to produce overlapping fire.

“They appear to be shadowing us,” the operations officer reported. “They’re thrusting along the same general trajectory and at the same speed. All three are just inside our sensor field.”

“Bruzzano,” CAPT Larsen snapped at his starfighter command officer. “Detach a Group of starfighters and send them after those battlestars.”

Because the new robotic docking bays held twice as many starfighters, ADM Chaffin subdivided the Force into Division, Wing, Group and Squadron. A Group consisted of 125 starfighters. A Wing was twice this number and a Division was four times larger than a group, and Squadrons were 1/5th the size of a Group or 25 starfighters, generally. CAPT Larsen was confident that 125 starfighters was more than enough to destroy three battlestars, but this calculus changed five minutes later.

“Sensors registering two more battlestars entering our sensor field from four-o’clock low-low,” the operation officer reported in a burst. “Sensors are also detecting multiple energy bursts, nine so far.”

“Bruzzano, launch another starfighter wing and send a group after those battlestars on our four-o'clock. Com, transmit an encoded situation report to Colossus.”

It was CAPT Larsen’s thinking that one of those energy bursts belonged to Colossus. He also considered the possibility that Colossus was navigating the same type of situation that the Goliath was in now, but this thought did not worry him. He believed this tactic of the DPG09 War-Machine was effective in that it took them out of their battle plan, but he did not see it as a winning strategy. He did not believe these few battlestars and their tiny compliments of starfighters had any chance of destroying his basestar. And he was sure that any engagement by the DPG09 Basestar Orion would lead to its own destruction. Fifteen minutes later his belief was reinforced with positive news.

“We've destroyed one of their battlestars,” the senior combat information center officer reported with enthusiasm.

“Confirmed,” Commander Bruzzano supported a couple seconds behind. “Scratch one enemy battlestar and seven starfighters. Two of our starfighters were lost in the battle. The second detached wing is now engaging the two enemy battlestars and fifteen enemy starfighters on our four o'clock low-low.”

Over the next several minutes the confidence of the crew inside CAPT Larsen’s command and control capsule grew as the tally of enemy kills piled up. This feeling of invincibility held over the next 30 minutes even as twelve enemy battlestars moved into Goliath’s sensor field at separate times and from different directions. Except for CAPT Larsen, all were happy that the battle was going their way.

After another 30 minutes of battle, a total of five DPG09 battlestars were destroyed or out of action, and a total of 37 DPG09 starfighters were similarly so disposed. The crew of Goliath’s command and control capsule were ecstatic. They were reducing DPG09 starfighters at a rate of 9 to 1, a DPG09 battlestar was being destroyed every eight minutes and their own basestar had yet to be fired upon. Among the crew, the feeling that they were winning this battle continued to endure even after a coded transmission from Colossus verified that it too was being shadowed by nine battlestars. The crew was buoyed by the fact that the DPG09 battlestars were achieving no military victories there. CAPT Larsen took special note of ADM Chaffin’s order that the Goliath get back up to jump speed quickly.

“Commander, should I launch another wing of starfighters?” CDR Bruzzano queried after a long hesitation to do so.

“No,” CAPT Larsen grumbled out with a shake of his head.

“Sir, with another wing out there we can destroy this enemy battlegroup in no time,” CDR Bruzzano disputed emphatically. 

“Negative,” CAPT Larsen admonished in a voice loaded with resolve.

CDR Bruzzano took this answer as the final word on the subject and looked away in dismay. He did not know that CAPT Larsen was pondering a growing concern, where is Basestar Orion? And more importantly, where are its starfighters? He had first entertained the thought that the DPG09 basestar jumped out of the system, and that ADM McCall was using his battlestars to shield its escape. This was the thinking that his crew had latched onto, but CAPT Larsen had a growing fear that this was not true. It began to make greater sense in his mind that Basestar Orion was hiding nearby in the black of space, and its starfighters were coming. With every passing minute this idea made increasingly more sense. ADM Kenneth McCall was sacrificing his pawns to buy time to position his bishops and knights.

“Captain,” CDR Bruzzano called out with a startled inflection and then suddenly stopped short.

CAPT Larsen looked to his starfighter command officer and then followed his gaze up to the holographic monitor. It was clear to see that the remaining eight of the DPG09 battlestars had adjusted the angle of their main thrusters so that it put them on an intercept trajectory with Goliath.

“They’re coming,” CAPT Larsen exclaimed with a hint of worry in his voice.

“It’s suicide,” CDR Bruzzano countered with emphasis. “They’ll all be destroyed before they get halfway here.”

Up until that moment, the DPG09 battlestars were struggling to survive out along the perimeter of Basestar Goliath’s sensor field. The odds against them surviving for long deep inside the glare of Goliath’s sensors was great. The sudden turn onto a trajectory toward Goliath was sure to bring the eight battlestars into the teeth of Goliath’s starfighter reserve. There would be no need for CAPT Larsen to hold half of his starfighters back to protect the basestar. The battlestars are coming to them. CAPT Larsen’s command capsule crew was thrilled by the sight of this assault. Their fixation on it was the reason why CAPT Larsen was first to see the new threats charging into Goliath’s sensor field.

“Launch all starfighters!” CAPT Larsen screamed out across the space capsule.

CDR Bruzzano hesitated just long enough to be amazed by the sight of a large formation of starfighters supported by 13 battlestars. The formation was piercing into the Goliath’s sensor field from 11 o’clock low-low, and it was on an intercept trajectory with Goliath. After his moment of astonishment, CDR Bruzzano relayed CAPT Larsen’s orders into the starfighter intercom mouthpiece.

“Where did they come from?” CDR Bruzzano questioned in a voice of soft amazement.

“Orion,” CAPT Larsen answered with a word. “Reduce power to thrusters by half. Divert all available power to the DED,” he continued a moment later in a loud and commanding voice.

CAPT Larsen knew that the starfighter screen would not be enough to shield Goliath from this attack. The DPG09 starfighters were too numerous and approaching too fast for his own starfighter screen to keep them all out of range. There was also the problem of one-quarter of his starfighter force being dispersed to the outer regions of Goliath’s sensor field and the fact that the DPG09 starfighters were approaching from the front. The closing speed of the DPG09 starfighters was doubled by this angle of attack. It was obvious to everyone in the capsule that the basestar would have to use its onboard armaments to fend off the DPG09 starfighters. In CAPT Larsen’s mind this was the main event.

“Bruzzano,” CAPT Larsen called out to his starfighter command officer. “Tell your starfighters to take out those battlestars.”

“Roger that, Captain,” CDR Bruzzano concurred without thinking.

The entire crew in Goliath’s command and control space capsule shared the same expectation about how this assault was going to playout. Sixty to eighty percent of the DPG09 starfighters were expected to make it through Goliath’s starfighter screen, but only five to ten-percent were expected to come out on a trajectory that would enable them to pass within lethal-range of the basestar. None of the DPG09 battlestars were expected to survive. This thinking was based on the understanding that they were to be too big and clumsy. Unlike starfighters, they were not expected to dodge and dance their way through the coming torrent of fire.

“Adjust trajectory 15 degrees up 30 degrees right,” CAPT Larsen called out the instant the two starfighter forces began firing at each other.

A few seconds later, Basestar Goliath’s main thrusters shut down. The maneuvering thrusters activated a second later and the gigantic vessel began a gradual adjusting of its attitude. When the maneuvering stopped, the main thrusters restarted. As this was happening, the DPG09 assault force and Goliath’s starfighter screen were in the beginning moments of their engagement. The two starfighter forces were crisscrossing at a point that was halfway between the basestar and the outer edge of its sensor field. A stream of 500 DPG09 starfighters and 15 battlestars mushroomed into a force of 823 WDF02 starfighters that were converging from multiple directions. On the 3D graphic monitor in Goliath’s command and control space capsule it looked like a stream of hundreds of yellow microdots on one side and a glob of blue microdots on the other spilling into and through the midst of each other from opposite directions. As they zigzagged through each other’s ranks, dozens of microdots began flashing red and then winking out from the screen across a span of a few seconds. On the far sides, the dots came out of this intersection as a mist of microdots flying out in all directions. The entire event lasted just under 30 seconds.

“Captain, the computer has a new count of 417 starfighters and 8 battlestars, but only 59 are on trajectories that will bring them dangerously close to us.”

This report from the CIC officer surprised CAPT Larsen, and he quickly reacted to it.

“Eight!” CAPT Larsen exclaimed with a mixture of surprise and anger in his voice. “How many of those battlestars are on intercept trajectories?”

“Three,” the CIC officer reported without hesitation.

“How the hell did that happen?” CAPT Larsen yelled out as an exclamation.

CDR Bruzzano was the only person in the capsule who could answer his question, but he was actively communicating with subordinate officers in neighboring capsules. These other officers were tracking and directing Goliath’s starfighter force. CAPT Larsen’s inadvertent outburst would had been ignored were he not in the middle of gathering that very information. After a pause to collect the last bit of data that he was hearing through his earphones, CDR Bruzzano began reciting what he had just heard.

“They used a combination of smoke screens and fighter protection to get through our starfighter screen.”

This report did not make sense to CAPT Larsen. A smoke screen in space was just a burst of static on a sensor field monitor created by a nuclear detonation. The static obscured objects within its intense and massive radiation orb for several seconds. They were commonly used by starfighters to get out from under the targeting of directed energy weapons and excessive numbers of railgun streams. It was always used as a tactical device to provide momentary reprieves from the view of an enemy’s targeting system. How it could be used to protect a battlestar from dozens of railgun streams over a prolonged period was not clear to CAPT Larsen. However, it was not a question to be entertained at that moment. The DPG09 starfighters and battlestars were seconds away from firing their weapons at Goliath. The 3D monitor had CAPT Larsen’s full attention. It was clear by what he was seeing in the display that all the DPG09 starfighters were turning onto trajectories that brought them closes to Goliath as they fell by. It was also clear that most would fall by at distances far to great to make them credible threats to his basestar.

“Shut down main thrusters,” CAPT Larsen commanded in a snap. “Bring the DED online. Divert all available power to weapon systems.”

Goliath was far too massive and cumbersome to evade the coming attack. CAPT Larsen knew that he had to repel this assault with the basestar’s weapon systems. Given the relatively small number of starfighters that were going to pass within lethal range of his basestar, he felt secure in its capability to fend them off. What he did not know was how well the basestar would cope with the three battlestars that were on trajectories that cut through its lethal-range zone. Popular theory said they were not supposed to get this close, subsequently there were no computer models on the potential outcome of this engagement. What CAPT Larsen did know was that battlestars were exceedingly less nimble and several thousand times larger than the starfighters, and that they were capable of massive amounts of defensive fire.

“Incoming, 11 o’clock high-high!”

“Incoming, 11 o’clock low!”

“Incoming, 10 o’clock high!”

“Incoming, 12 o’clock bottom!”

The command capsule crew began calling out the areas of incoming railgun warheads as they saw them. These were Hail-Mary efforts by DPG09 forces that were outside the combat zone and on trajectories that would not get closer than where they were at that moment. CAPT Larsen gave next to no attention to them. He knew the crew was just reporting what was not being displayed on the main monitor. The omission did not mean they were not being tracked, targeted and destroyed by the Directed Energy Defense System when needed. It was just information CAPT Larsen might need to consider if he decided to alter the basestars trajectory. The real threat to Goliath came several seconds later.

“I have a count of 28 starfighters and 2 battlestars approaching the egg beneath our left rear quarter and another 23 starfighters and 1 battlestar crossing through the top of the egg,” CDR Bruzzano reported without looking up from his screen.

“Direct all railguns onto targets approaching the egg and fire at will,” CAPT Larsen hollered out in haste.

CDR Bruzzano gave a resounding, “firing railguns now,” a couple of seconds after hearing CAPT Larsen’s order.

Goliath’s computer carried out the instruction it was given without error. The closes railguns to a target approaching the egg began rifling out warheads towards it in rapid succession. A moment later these targets began firing back.

“Incoming fire!” Bruzzano yelled out. “I have targets entering the egg.”

The egg was a colloquialism given to an area around a spaceship in battle because of its resemblance to an egg in the holographic monitor. The distance of this area out from Basestar Goliath was based on the flight time of a railgun projectile at a set speed. Relatively speaking, the basestar was a microscopic speck in the center of the rounded bottom of the egg. Where the egg elongated at the top was the direction that the basestar was falling toward. The top of the egg had a greater range because projectiles fired from enemy vessels in this area were on a head-on collision course with its target. The target and the projectile were falling toward each other. Because of this, the closing speeds are faster than from any other direction. A projectile fired toward the basestar through the bottom of the egg had a shorter range because the target is falling away from the projectile. This situation slowed the closing speed. The interior of the egg had three layers, combat zone, close-range and lethal range.

The outer area of the egg was the combat zone. Any spacecraft entering that area was considered a threat, but a single spacecraft was considered a minor threat. The flight time to the target of a railgun projectile at that distance was between fifteen to eight seconds. In the combat zone, it would take several dozen starfighters grouped together firing in rapid succession at the same section of a basestar to overburden its defense system.

Halfway in from the outer perimeter of the combat zone and the warship was the threshold for close-range. Any spacecraft entering that area was considered a major threat, but ten or less of these spacecrafts was considered a manageable threat. The flight time to the target of a railgun projectile at that distance was between seven to four seconds. Within the close-range zone, it would take a dozen starfighters grouped together firing in rapid succession at the same section of a basestar to overburden its defense system.

Halfway in from close-range was the threshold for lethal range. Any spacecraft inside this zone was at point blank range, and one starfighter was enough to be considered an unmanageable threat. The flight time to the target of a railgun projectile at that distance was between three to zero seconds. Within lethal-range a single starfighter firing in rapid succession was enough to overburden the defense system of a basestar. All basestar commanders knew that it was vital to destroy starfighters before they moved to within lethal range. What was not known was how close a battlestar had to get to be too close to a basestar.

Goliath’s onboard computer began sounding the alarm to evade 48 seconds into this engagement. This was the warning that CAPT Larsen and the crew of Goliath dreaded to hear. The message meant that the basestar’s defensive system was being overwhelmed and that evasion was the only option left. It also meant that the basestar’s targeting computer would be rendered nearly useless by defensive movements. The Goliath was two seconds into a yaw maneuver when CAPT Larsen’s greatest fear occurred.

“We’re hit!” A command capsule officer shouted.

“Losing control of helm!” The helm officer shouted.

“We’re hit again!” Another command capsule officer shouted.

“Multiple hits! Goliath is tumbling!” A third command capsule officer shouted.

“All ships functions are offline!” The helm officer shouted.

“Abandon ship! Abandon ship! Abandon ship!” CAPT Marc Larsen shouted into his headphone.


	22. Battlestar Casius

“Somebody find me something,” Captain Murillo called out to his command capsule crew.

Captain Albert Murillo was the commanding officer of DPG09 Battlestar Casius. He and his vessel had just jumped into null space when he called out this command. The something he was looking for was the Basestar Colossus or Goliath. Captain Murillo was operating under the orders of the DPG09 War-Machine commanding officer, ADM Keith McCall. The battle plan laid out to him and all the other commanders within the DPG09 Fleet was to lure the WDF02 basestars into null space and then to use their battlestars to drag Colossus and Goliath back into real space. There were two motivations behind this action, bring the real space transit velocities of Colossus and Goliath far below jump speeds and to hide Basestar Orion in the black of space.

Luring the WDF02 Basestars into null space was the biggest unknown in ADM McCall’s plan. He could not be sure that the WDF02 basestars would follow his fleet into null space, but it was ADM McCall’s assessment that they would. He calculated that the WDF02 basestars would follow them to avoid being outmaneuvered by the DPG09 fleet. He also suspected that the WDF02 Starcorp Directors would want his command destroyed to prevent it from coming back bigger and stronger later.

Hiding the Basestar Orion in the black of real space was not a certainty either. ADM McCall knew that the basestars Colossus and Goliath would be searching for it. Staying undetected in null space while remaining in the same vicinity of real space was Basestar Orion’s first order of business. To accomplish this, ADM McCall instructed his fleet to attempt a simultaneous return to real space after 83 seconds of null space time. This they were instructed to do even if they had not merged with Battlestar Colossus or Goliath in null space. The thinking here was to put an extreme limit on the length of time Colossus and Goliath had in null space to search for Battlestar Orion. It was McCall’s calculation that his 47 battlestars would find the WDF02 basestars before they could find the Orion.

“Come on, the clock is ticking,” Captain Murillo grumbled at his crew through his headphone after a minute of silence. “Where are those basestars?”

Captain Murillo got no response to his inquiry. His command capsule crew were diligently looking at their displays and listening to the audible returns from their computers. They all detected several magnetic signatures across the past two minutes, but all the signatures were consistent with a vessel too small to be a basestar. They surmised that the computer was reading the signature of another DPG09 battlestar and then adjusted the magnetic sensor to search elsewhere.

“Captain, I estimate we have another 15 seconds before null space egress,” Lieutenant Commander Nick Kambanellis reported in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

Due to the seemingly unending spectrum of time-dilations in null space, Captain Murillo understood that real-time calculations were a little better than guesstimates. It was the job of his second in command, LCDR Kambanellis, to keep track of this calculation and notify the Captain when it was time to exit null space. After another 15 seconds of silence, LCDR Kambanellis sounded the alarm that time was up.

“Shut down temporal field projector,” Captain Murillo called out an instant after hearing LCDR Kambanellis’ alert.

Several seconds later, the helm officer reported they were back in real space.

“Combat posture,” Captain Murillo called out to the crew of Battlestar Casius.

An instant after his command went out, the sensor field of the battlestar began extending out to combat-range. The thrusters remained shut down while the crew examined, scanned and listened to their surroundings. Twelve seconds later, into this activity Captain Murillo’s command capsule crew began reporting the detection of multiple time-jump energy bursts coming in from the expanse of space around them. After a span of just over two minutes, 27 time-jump energy bursts and one radio message were detected by the battlestars’ array of embedded antennas.

_“This is Battlestar Patinkin plus two, we are engaged with Basestar Goliath. I repeat, the Patinkin, the Albaneto and the Sheridan are engaged with Basestar Goliath.”_

Captain Murillo wasted no time in reacting to this radio message. Within seconds, the Casius was thrusting into a trajectory that would take the battlestar to the location where that transmission originated. Thirty minutes later, Battlestar Casius loosely formed up with DPG09 Battlestars Bowen, Sheridan, Albaneto and Patton. After another 33 minutes of thrusting, the group breached the sensor field of WDF02 Basestar Goliath. It took another 12 minutes for the group to move into a parallel trajectory just inside the basestar’s sensor field perimeter.

“This is Captain Dunham of the Battlestar Dulan. Spread out and engage the starfighter screen. Do not engage the basestar. I repeat, do not engage the basestar.”

This message was an encoded radio transmission when it came into the command capsule of Battlestar Casius. Previous messages had already forewarned Captain Murillo that CAPT Dunham was the senior officer in this engagement. Embedded in the message was CAPT Dunham’s computer-generated graphic of the artificial battle plane that he set for this engagement. That was information that a team of combatants needed to know to separate top from bottom and left from right. Armed with this knowledge, Captain Murillo adjusted the thrust and position of his battlestar so that Goliath was fixed at Casius’ four o’clock low-low. As this was happening, the ten starfighters attached to the hull of Casius launched. Their orders were to defend the battlestar.

Over the next 27 minutes, Battlestar Casius and its starfighter support engaged with a swarm of Goliath starfighters that numbered up to 33 and down to 29. Over the course of this time, seven of Casius’ starfighters were destroyed or severely damaged. The only thing that prevented its entire starfighter support from being wiped out was the bristling fire of the battlestar. The DPG09 starfighters needed only to move back into easy range of the Casius’ plethora of railguns and directed energy weapons to shake off greater numbers of WDF02 starfighters. At the end of 27 minutes, a voice message began blaring out of the radio receivers in the command capsule of Battlestar Casius.

“This is Commander Masamune of the Orion Starfighter Force—500 strong. We are on approach for the perimeter of Goliath’s sensor field—ETA 15 minutes. We are 17 minutes out from cracking the top of the egg on an attack trajectory of eleven high to five low-low on your plain. Coordinate to my attack. I repeat, coordinate to my attack.”

Captain Murillo interpreted from this report that the Orion Starfighter Force was attacking Goliath from near head own at a left to right high to low angle. The Orion starfighters were not on Casius’ sensor screen so he could not see it, but he knew that visual was approximately ten minutes away. Captain Murillo mentally calculated that he had time to coordinate an attack on Basestar Goliath with four minutes to spare.

“Shut down main engines. I want a ten second reverse thrust, maneuvering thrusters only,” Captain Murillo commanded into his headset.

The helm officer repeated the order and then commenced to carry it out. The Casius began drifting back closer to the Goliath. As this was happening, the starfighters of Basestar Goliath were still harrying the Casius. Seven minutes later, Casius’ eighth starfighter was destroyed. Two minutes later, the WDF02 starfighters began moving away from Battlestar Casius and falling back into the interior of Basestar Goliath’s combat zone.

“Enemy fighter screen is dissipating,” the weapons officer of the Casius reported into his headset.

“Roger that,” the CIC officer agreed into his headset. “Goliath’s fighter screen is pulling back into the interior of the basestar’s egg.”

Captain Murillo had no doubt that the Goliath was seeing the Orion Starfighter Force coming in and was forming up to deal with it.

“Adjust course onto an intercept trajectory with Goliath, main engines, maximum thrust,” Captain Murillo roared at his helm officer.

Seconds later the Casius began thrusting toward Basestar Goliath and the thick screen of starfighters shielding it. Several seconds later, a second battlestar, the Boxberger, angled into Casius’ sensor screen along the same general trajectory that would send it across the top front of Goliath’s egg and through its lethal-range zone. A few seconds later, the leading edge of Orion’s Starfighter Force appeared on Casius’ monitors. They were coming from its seven o’clock high-high and on a trajectory that would crisscross with Goliath. Captain Murillo appeared to be counting the seconds as he watched the dots move about the 3D monitor. When it was clear to him that his battlestar was a few seconds away from being fired upon, Captain Murillo reacted.

“Shut down main engines,” Captain Murillo called out to his command capsule crew in a rush. “Activate the DED and direct all available power to weapons.”

Captain Murillo hesitated just long enough for his crew to comply with his order, and then he called out another order.

“Initiate smoke screen program.”

In that moment, the 234 railguns of the Casius began a continuous preset pattern of rapid fire. The firings were directed into a broad area in front of the battlestar. Each projectile exploded apart into four warheads at the instant it left the railgun and detonated milliseconds later. The thousands of bright, brief bursts of light dotting the space in front and around the Casius did no justice to the havoc that its radiation bloom was doing on the sensor screens of the Goliath and its starfighters. In appearance, this event looked like a long pitch-black tunnel filled with fireflies and the Casius was flying through its center at a high rate of speed.

In the sensor displays of the Goliath and its starfighters, it appeared as if the Casius was flying within a thick static cloud that was growing out and around as it fell. The nearby Boxberger Battlestar began producing the same effect at nearly the same moment. Seconds after the start of the event, the starfighter force of the Orion began racing past the Casius and Boxberger battlestars. A few seconds into this overrun, the DPG09 and WDF02 starfighter forces began spilling into and through the ranks of each other. When being viewed in its entirety in the 3D holographic monitors aboard the Goliath, this clash of opposing starfighters looked like blue and yellow particles of mist colliding. Visible within this clash were dozens of miniscule flashes of red occurring across a span of several seconds. The only other thing visible in the display was the tiny smudges of static being produced by the battlestars. In appearance, they looked like gray lines, 1/16th of an inch thick and 3/16th of inch long, that were falling toward Basestar Goliath.

“Charge maneuvering thrusters,” Captain Murillo commanded in haste. “Adjust track down and to the left and give me a 3 second burn of the rear maneuvering thrusters.”

The helm officer complied with the Captain’s orders with a deftness born out of practice. No time was given to verbally acknowledging the orders. He knew what the captain wanted and why. Training for this battle had taught Captain Murillo and his officers that computers could target them in these static clouds by using their last known speed and trajectory to reckon their location. Changing the speed and track of their fall was the way to defeat this calculus, but there was nothing they could do to defeat a lucky shot fired from within the lethal zone. The Casius and the Boxberger were now falling through the dispersed ranks of the Goliath starfighters.

“Evade! Evade!” The computer blared this alarm after a few seconds down the new track. The helm officer made a minor adjustment in Casius’ track and the alarm suddenly stopped. The locations of several dozen incoming starfighter projectiles were clearly marked in Casius’ command capsule 3D holographic monitor. The path of the warheads beyond the static cloud around the Casius was easily detected by the battlestar’s sensor field, but their movement through the static cloud had to be gauged and calculated by the targeting computer. 

“Evade! Evade!” The computer alarm blared again, and the helm officer slipped by the threat again with minor shifts in the battlestar’s track. Over the next twelve seconds, the evade alarm blared five times, and each time the helm officer narrowly eluded impact with a WDF02 starfighter railgun warhead. At the end of this time, Basestar Goliath’s starfighter screen was behind the Casius and quickly falling away. CAPT Murillo promptly ordered the shutdown of the smoke screen program. The battle with the starfighters was over, and the battle with Goliath was ahead.

“New trajectory,” the weapons officer shouted out. “Goliath is eleven o’clock low and dropping to ten o’clock low-low and widening.”

“Confirmed,” the CIC officer seconded.

“Helm,” Captain Murillo called out an instant behind his CIC officer’s confirmation. “Adjust trajectory to best intercept path—maximum thrust!”

“Diverting available power to thrusters,” the helm officer initiated of his own volition and reported in the same instant. “Adjusting attitude.”

Under the gentle nudging of the helm officer, the large battlestar began rotating around its center mass. After a few seconds, the massive battlestar stopped rotating.

“Going to main engines—maximum thrust now,” the helm officer reported as the large rear thrusters of the battlestar erupted with light and heat.

Captain Murillo could see all that was happening on the large 3D holographic monitor in the center of the capsule. The Goliath had clearly adjusted its trajectory and was about to fall below and away from them. Captain Murillo knew that he had no time to hesitate. His forward momentum was 30 seconds away from throwing him past the Goliath. He could tell by what he was seeing that only two of the five battlestars that made it through the starfighter screen had a chance of getting to inside Goliath’s close-range zone. Casius was one of the two. It was also clear that most of Orion’s starfighters were going to fall far outside of Goliath’s close-range zone as they crisscrossed.

“Approaching combat-zone,” the weapons officer reported a few seconds into Casius’ new trajectory.

“Activate DED,” Captain Murillo called out.

Every pair of eyes in the command capsule that were not occupied with other duties followed the approaching engagement on the large 3D holographic monitor. Orion starfighters were the first to engage with the humongous basestar. The number of yellow specks approaching the vicinity of Goliath grew like the beginning of a snow fall. The frequency of yellow specks erupting into red flashes and then disappearing from display grew as the force moved ever closer to the basestar. The groups of specks that came the closes to the basestar suffered the greatest losses.

The focus of Casius’ command capsule crew was on the Battlestar Patna. Unlike the specks that represented the starfighters that were slowly falling across the display, the battlestar was a small gray smudge with its name displayed in the hologram. The Patna was several seconds ahead of Casius and on a trajectory that would take it across the top back end of the egg and just inside its lethal-range zone. A few seconds into this watch, the battlestar moved into the close-range zone around the basestar. A second later the smudge transitioned into a flashing red dot. The Patna dot flashed red and then back to yellow several times. Seconds later it began winking red repeatedly, and then the dot disappeared from the display. For several seconds after this event, the command capsule crew was still with silence.

“Entering combat zone,” the weapons officer announced through his headset mouthpiece.

Everyone in the command capsule knew that it was their turn to make a run at the humongous basestar and its massive array of defensive and offensive weapons. The crew of Battlestar Casius took some relief that the weight of starfighter attacks on the basestar was continuing to grow with each passing second. It was the hope of everyone there that these attacks would occupy the basestar’s weapons system enough to give them a fighting chance.

“Incoming fire,” the CIC officer reported with a start.

“DED system engaging,” the weapons officer reported an instant behind.

Captain Murillo said nothing as he watched his battlestar commence its fall through the upper front of Goliath’s egg.

“Crossing into close-range,” the weapons officer called out.

Almost in that same instant, Casius’ computer began blaring.

“Evade! Evade! Evade!”

“Evade,” Captain Murillo shouted out to his helm officer.

The helm officer gave no response to his order. He was too busy carrying it out. The evade alert stopped an instant after the helm officer began adjusting the battlestar’s track to slip an incoming warhead.

“We’re starting our pass across Goliath’s trajectory,” the CIC officer reported a couple of seconds after the evade alert.

“Point the nose,” Captain Murillo called out.

The helm officer reacted to this order by rotating the battlestar into a bow to stern line that pointed directly at Basestar Goliath.

“Evade! Evade!”

An instant after Casius’ computer began blaring this alert, it stopped. A slight adjustment by the helm officer moved the battlestar out of line with several incoming projectiles. This was easier to accomplish now that the battlestar was showing Goliath its smallest silhouette. On the 3D holographic monitor, it was obvious to all that Basestar Goliath was under the heaviest assault yet from Orion’s starfighters. Casius went through another two seconds of fall before the weapons officer gave his next report with an inflection of dread.

“Entering lethal-range.”

“Initiate smoke screen program,” Captain Murillo yelled out with urgency an instant after hearing his weapons officer’s report. “Adjust track down,” he continued a second later.

Battlestar Casius began spewing warheads out all around it an instant after the smoke screen program was activated. A second later, the battlestar used its maneuvering thruster to shift its track down.

“Rotate 90 degrees to the right,” Captain Murillo called out when he was sure his previous two orders were enacted. “Shut down smoke screen program! Target the Goliath!”

With a few taps of his fingers, the weapons officer stopped the smoke screen program and redirected the computer to the task of targeting the Goliath. Less than 2 seconds had passed when the weapons officer reported that he had a target lock.

“Fire!” Captain Murillo yelled out without hesitation.

An instant after Captain Murillo gave this command, the Casius began spewing out hundreds of warheads per second into a stream that flowed at a target so distant that it would barely register as a speck when viewed through a hand-held optical telescope. For the first time, the humongous basestar attempted to adjust its posture to slip through the onslaught of warheads coming at it from Battlestar Casius. Less than three seconds into this effort, a warhead slammed into and through Goliath. The exit hole spewed material from the basestar’s interior. Goliath began to tumble as hundreds of warheads began streaking by and bursting into small brief sparks of light as they detonated in the near distance. All defensive fire from the basestar came to a stop. A second later, a second warhead pierced through the basestar followed by a third, a fourth and a fifth. Space capsules began ejecting from the basestar as large chunks of the vessel flew off into space. Basestar Goliath was tumbling through a rainstorm of warheads from different directions that were missing their target. A few seconds into this tumble, a starfighter warhead from the opposite side that Casius was on slammed into and through the basestar. This event was followed by nine more warheads that came in from starfighters in multiple locations around the basestar. Several seconds later, huge segments of the basestar began breaking off. One minute into this event, the onslaught stopped. The violence of this attack suddenly transitioned into an eerie image of the drifting debris of what once was a basestar 29 miles in diameter.


	23. Basestar Orion

“We have real space,” the helm officer Basestar Orion called out through his headset microphone.

“CIC?”

ADM Kenneth McCall’s query resonated in the headphones of his command capsule crew. An instant after he spoke, the senior Combat Information Center officer (CIC) reported that the Orion was not enveloped by a sensor field and that there was no sight or sound of another spaceship in the immediate expanse of space. This was the report that ADM McCall wanted to hear. WDF02’s pursuit of DPG09 into null space was more than anticipated; it was hoped for. The success of his plan to win this war was dependent upon it.

ADM McCall knew that he would likely not win in a head-on battle with the WDF02 War-Machine. Because of this belief, he made it his plan to keep the Orion out of the fight for as long as possible. His starfighters and battlestars were to engage with the WDF02 space forces. A crucial part of this plan was the need to exit from null space undetected. ADM McCall knew that if Basestars Colossus or Goliath located the Orion in null space, they would follow or drag it into real space. By slipping out of null space undetected ADM McCall was able to conceal his battlestar in the black of real space.

Keeping the two WDF02 basestars in the same, relatively, small area of space was another crucial part of ADM McCall’s plan. After leading the two WDF02 basestars into null space, ADM McCall used electromagnetic pulses to lure them toward his battlestars and to stop them from wandering too far afield in time and space. This was the riskiest part of the plan. ADM McCall could not be sure that Colossus and Goliath would go for this bait. In null space, the magnetic signature of a basestar and an electromagnetic pulse had decidedly different idiosyncrasies. The only thing that this part of the plan had going for it was the fact that any magnetic signature in null space had to be from a spaceship. What was working against this part of the plan was time.

Initiating electromagnetic pulses in null space was thought to be the equivalent of ringing a hand bell inside a three-dimensional maze 100 yards cubed with thickly padded walls, ceilings and floors. The sound was sure not to travel far, and the direction it was traveling from was sure to be tricky to determine. Basestar Orion did not have an unlimited amount of time to wait for Colossus and Goliath to take the bait, and it had no way of knowing that they did take the bait. What the crew of the Orion did know was that the longer they stayed in null space the greater the likelihood they would be detected. It was for these reasons that a set time of 83 seconds was given for all of DPG09’s warships to return to real space. Colossus and Goliath had to be found and latched onto by one or more of ADM McCall’s battlestars within that time. If one or both got away, then the trap would be partially or fully inoperable.

ADM McCall’s plan had the misfortune of never have been tried before. No one had ever thought to try and signal their location in the infinity of null-time and space, but this disinterest made it attractive to ADM McCall. The calculation that powerful electromagnetic pulses would register in the sensors of most spaceships across a large spectrum of time dilations within an area half as large as the Sol star system was without dispute. The worry for ADM McCall was the question, how will Colossus and Goliath react?

“What’s our time shift?” ADM McCall queried into his headset.

“We are one-eighth of a parsec and ten days, two hours and 33 minutes from where we were prior to the jump,” the communication officer reported back through ADM McCall’s earphones.

This was very good news in ADM McCall’s ears. It was his plan that the time-jumps of his fleet should be ten days long in real-time. To hit this real space time span, an 83 seconds null space jump was calculated for a set point on the time dilation spectrum. It was estimated that this calculation was accurate within several hundred milliseconds either way. A plus or minus of five hours was factored into his ten-day plan to give it its best chance for success. Despite these calculations and estimations, there was still a 50/50 probability of a hit or miss. This report from the communications officer told him that the Orion was where it needed to be in time and space. Now ADM McCall could do nothing but hope that the other members of his fleet were the same.

“We’ve just passed through an energy burst,” the senior CIC officer announced.

There was a moment of silence behind this report. ADM McCall and CAPT Smith were waiting on the analysis to follow.

“The energy burst has a time-jump signature,” the CIC officer continued after a pause. “Localizing area of origin now.”

It took nearly a minute for the CIC officer come back with an area of origin. Over that span of time, seven more time-jump bursts washed over Orion. The following five minutes produced an additional twelve energy bursts that washed over the Orion. At the end of that time, ADM McCall got the report that he was most eager to hear.

“Incoming audio message, Admiral,” the communications officer announced through his microphone. “It's from the Kalomo.”

“Let's hear it,” ADM McCall impatiently returned.

The communications officer wasted no time in directing the transmission into the headsets of the entire command capsule crew.

_“This is the Kalomo plus three, we have wrangled Basestar Colossus out of null space. Be advised, Battlestars Kalomo, Camden, Millau, and Pavnar, are engaged with WDF02 Basestar Colossus in real space.”_

“Get me a fix on that transmission,” ADM McCall commanded to his team of CIC officers.

The response to that command was already in the works and was reported to ADM McCall a few seconds later. The location of the Kalomo put it at a distance that would take Orion's starfighters roughly 180 minutes to travel.

“Shall I launch the starfighters,” CAPT Smith quickly queried.

“No. Not yet,” ADM McCall pondered out as he studied the 3D graphic monitor at the center of the capsule.

ADM McCall knew that every minute he delayed the launch of his starfighters added another minute to their transit to the Colossus, but it was a sacrifice he felt he needed to make. Reports of more energy bursts in the near expanse continued to come in. It was still possible for Goliath to egress from null space closer to Orion. It took a couple of minutes of waiting to find out.

_“This is Battlestar Patinkin plus two, we are engaged with Basestar Goliath. I repeat, the Patinkin, the Albaneto and the Sheridan are engaged with Basestar Goliath.”_

“How long to starfighter intercept,” ADM McCall commenced to demand before the message completed.

“Between 90 and 100 minutes if we launch now, Admiral,” a CIC officer reported back without delay.

“Captain Smith,” ADM McCall addressed without delay. “Launch all starfighters to the Patinkin at best possible speed. Their orders are to engage and destroy Basestar Goliath.”

Within a handful of seconds after this order was given, Basestar Orion began using its maneuvering thrusters to adjust its attitude as it fell through space. The main engines were silent as it did this. A dozen seconds later, the maneuvering stopped and the two large docking bay doors of the basestar began sliding open. The dim lighting within the docking bay appeared in the black of space like sliding doors fixed into the fabric of the universe. Halfway into the opening, two streams of starfighters began spewing out of Orion. Magnetic repulsion was used to accelerate the starfighters far quicker than their engines could. It took just under a quarter of a minute for 500 starfighters to be rifled out the basestar like projectiles from a railgun. The starfighters engines were off so that all available energy in the spacecrafts could be used to sustain their structural integrities and cockpit zero-gravity bubbles. When the last starfighter was gone from the basestar, the docking bay doors reversed direction and began closing before they had finished fully opening. When all was done, Basestar Orion went back to its dark silent fall through the black of space.

Inside Basestar Orion, all eyes and ears were attentive to the sights and sounds in the space around it. ADM McCall had no intention of involving his basestar in the two battles happening in the near expanse of space. To help facilitate his plan, their sensor field was extended to the minimum safe distance. The main engines were off so that their glow would not give away the basestar’s location. For the next three hours, Basestar Orion and its crew were silent spectators to the two battles being waged in the far expanse. At the end of this time, the first audio transmission directed at Basestar Orion came in.

_“This is Commander Masamune, senior commander of the Orion Starfighter Force, reporting to Basestar Orion. Basestar Goliath is destroyed. I repeat, WDF02 Basestar Goliath is destroyed. Losses have reduced my force to 341 starfighters. Nineteen battlestars were destroyed or put out of action in the battle. Nine battlestars are serviceable. Eight battlestars are in route to support the Kalomo battlegroup. Battlestar Casius is onsite here collecting survivors. All enemy starfighters have left the vicinity and appear to be on trajectories for the Colossus. Local space is secure. This is Commander Masamune reporting that the 341 starfighters under my command are ready for pickup. Weapons stores are low. Pickup, refit and transportation to the Kalomo Battlegroup needed ASAP.”_

A few minutes after receiving this transmission, Basestar Orion was in null space and on course to rendezvous with its far-flung starfighter force. The Orion had no need for additional acceleration. The basestar sustained its time-jump-speed when it last egressed from null space. It was a deliberate act for just this occasion. Retrieving its starfighters and time-jumping them to the next battlefront expeditiously was an essential part of ADM McCall's plan. He slowed the basestar only as much as needed and instructed his starfighter force to race up to him. Because of his forethought, the collection of starfighters took just under one hour to complete. When this was finished, the Orion began thrusting up for another time-jump. Fifteen minutes later, the Orion was in null space. 

Basestar Orion egressed just outside the sensor field of Colossus after four seconds in null space, 20 minutes in real space time. The energy burst produced by the egress exposed its presence, but it was the speed and trajectory of the basestar that kept it out of harms way for the moment. The eight battlestars that participated in the destruction of the Goliath were still accelerating up to jump speed and were not expected to arrive to this location for another two hours.

The Orion entered the vicinity on a trajectory that had it falling out ahead of the Colossus. The speed of its fall had it moving faster than the Colossus by a quarter more speed. The battle between the Kalomo Battlegroup and the Colossus was over. Only one battlestar, the Fitzroy, remained intact, and it was keeping its distance far outside of Colossus’ sensor field. Basestar Orion was still rearming starfighters when it propelled 268 of them at the Colossus. It took another 27 minutes to complete the rearming of the remaining 73 starfighters and then propel them toward the Colossus. Across the whole of this time, the Orion maintained a moderate decelerating thrust. The purpose of this gradual slowing was to keep the DPG09 starfighters close enough for a short transit to Colossus and to keep the WDF02 starfighters far away from Basestar Orion.

When all the starfighters were away and free to do battle, the Orion turned from the conflict and ignited its main engines to full thrust. Gradually the basestar began to expand the distance between itself and the battle waging at its rear. All that could be seen of the battle on a video monitor was a thousand of dots of light that continuously winked on and off every few seconds. In ten-minutes time it took double the magnification to maintain the same image of the battle. As the Orion continued to fall away, ADM McCall watched and listened as 345 DPG09 starfighters and Battlestar Fitzroy harried WDF02 Basestar Colossus.


	24. The Last Engagement

“Real space, Admiral,” Captain Paul Hoffman reported through his headphone.

CAPT Paul Hoffman was the commanding officer of Basestar Colossus. It was his job to carry out the orders of his commanding officer when it involved the operations of Basestar Colossus. The commanding officer of the WDF02 War-Machine was ADM Craig Chaffin. CAPT Hoffman was situated in his escape pod in the command and control capsule of Basestar Colossus. ADM Chaffin was situated in the neighboring escape pod five feet to the left.

“What’s out there, Castellano?” ADM Chaffin questioned an instant behind CAPT Hoffman’s report.

“No sensor field, no local chatter. We’re in the clear, Admiral,” Lieutenant Castellano, the communication officer, answered back through the inter-space capsule intercom.

“Nielsen, report,” ADM Chaffin commanded without a moment’s thought.

“Goliath is on our six, approximately 6 minutes back and holding,” the operations team senior officer began reporting. “Scanning for DPG09 now.”

Commander Gerard Nielsen was in-charge of the combat information CIC crewmen in the capsule who scanned and processed information about the basestar’s surroundings.

“Shall I extend the sensor field?” CAPT Hoffman queried ADM Chaffin.

“Negative,” ADM Chaffin retorted. “Hold on the sensor field. CIC, find me that war-machine.”

“Got it,” CDR Nielsen called out an instant behind ADM Chaffin’s command. “Eleven o’clock low and moving away, seven-degrees left and expanding, two-degrees down and falling.”

“Distance?” ADM Chaffin quickly questioned.

“Zero point zero-zero-two parsecs,” CDR Nielsen promptly answered.

“Speed?” ADM Chaffin asked an instant later.

“Between zero point four-five and point five LS.”

“Extend sensor field to combat distance. Perry, put us on an intercept course. Communications, connect my station to an external transmitter.”

ADM Chaffin knew that there was no need to engage their thrusters. Colossus and Goliath were already moving far faster than the DPG09 Fleet. Convinced that there was nothing more to do or know, he used the next ten minutes to transmit his ultimatum to DPG09. ADM Chaffin chose to hold transmitting until after he verified his surroundings were secure and that he knew the location of DPG09. The first few minutes out of a time-jump were the most precarious for any spaceship. The information they had about the location they were jumping into was never exact about the size, distance and speed of objects in the vicinity. Only an impression of real space was perceptible to the sensors in null space. Large celestial bodies were easy to perceive, but asteroids and spaceships left faint signatures. Careful study was needed to detect these signatures. After gathering this faint information, ADM Chaffin arranged his reentry to real space so that the DPG09 War-Machine was ahead of his basestars.

Well known to starcorp spaceship captains was the tactic of timing their exits from null space so that they were indistinguishable as two separate egresses. Doing this required multiple spaceships to coordinate their egresses in time and location so that they were simultaneous. If done to perfection, the maneuver had the virtue of hiding the presence of a second spaceship. ADM Chaffin had no doubt that DPG09 detected their time-jump entry, but he also knew that they could not be sure if the jump represented just one of his basestars or both. He expected ADM McCall to worry about a possible second time-jump entry into his vicinity. ADM Chaffin’s calculation was that the DPG09 fleet would keep a large portion of its fleet in reserve during his initial attack. And ADM Chaffin also knew that his deception had a limited lifespan. Therefore, he planned to launch his attack as soon as both basestars were at a convenient proximity to the Orion.

“Admiral,” CAPT Hoffman called out with alarm in his voice and with shock and alarm. “The DPG09 Fleet jumped. The entire fleet just did a time-jump.” 

“What the hell…” the ADM called out and then stopped in mid-sentence.

ADM Chaffin took a second to consider the situation before reacting with haste.

“Make preparations for a time-jump,” ADM Chaffin screamed out to his command capsule crew as he activated his ship-to-ship intercom. “Goliath, Jump! Jump! Jump! Find the Orion. Don’t let it get away.”

It took the Colossus and the Goliath just over 15 seconds to shut down their sensor fields and energize their temporal field projectors. There was no need for acceleration, they were already moving well past the minimum speed needed to generate a time-jump bubble. Through a blinding burst of light and a powerful explosion of energy, the Colossus and the Goliath commenced their search for Basestar Orion in the void of null space.

ADM Chaffin had no idea where the DPG09 Fleet was going or what it was trying to do, but that information was unnecessary. His orders were specific. The Starcorp WDF02 Board of Directors knew they had to do more than just fend off DPG09. It was decided by the Board that any war-machine entering the Sol System with the intention of waging war had to be destroyed to financially cripple its financiers, to prevent its return at a future date and to discourage others from challenging Starcorp WDF02’s contractual hold on the Sol System.

“We’re in null space, Admiral,” LT Perry reported through his headset microphone.

“CIC, what have you got?” ADM Chaffin questioned with confused impatience.

ADM Chaffin's question rightly assumed that his team of combat information officers were already searching for the Orion. He also assumed that the magnetic sensors of the Colossus would detect the Orion as soon as they entered null space. But the immediate response he expected did not come.

“Nielsen, report.” ADM Chaffin commanded.

“Nothing is where it's supposed to be, Admiral,” CDR Nielsen reported. “It's as if they disappeared.”

“I've got something,” Lieutenant Butler called out before CDR Nielsen finished speaking.

CDR Nielsen immediately turn of his attention to new activity on his computer monitor.

“Is it the Orion?” ADM Chaffin question with impatience.

“It's high,” CDR Nielsen announced, perplexed. “And there's something weird about the signal.”

“Weird how?” ADM Chaffin demanded.

“The signal seems to be fluttering or pulsing somehow,” CDR Nielsen fumbled out.

“Multiple signatures,” LT Butler called out in a hurry.

ADM Chaffin instantly concluded that the weird signature was connected to the multiple contacts.

“It has to be them,” ADM Chaffin blurted. “Captain, follow those readings.”

Captain Hoffman relayed that command to LT Perry without a second’s delay.

“Admiral, these signals are very high,” CDR Nielsen advised while he continued to study his computer monitor with a confused expression. “They're not running.”

ADM Chaffin did not know what to say or how to react to CDR Nielsen's conclusion. In his mind, pursuing the DPG09 war-machine was not an option. He had to catch the Orion, but the thought that the DPG09 War-Machine was working a strategy gave him cause to question his actions.

“Admiral,” Captain Hoffman exclaimed into ADM Chaffin's thoughts. “We're being approached—multiple signatures.”

“Roger that,” CDR Nielsen spoke up with a hint of excitement in his speech. “Seven distinct magnetic signatures, and there are more in the distance.”

“Does one of the signatures belong to the Orion?” ADM Chaffin questioned with urgency.

“Impossible to tell in null space,” CDR Nielsen returned.

“Is one of the signatures larger than the others?” ADM Chaffin roared.

“Some of the signatures are farther away than others, Admiral,” CDR Nielsen spoke in a strident voice. “We can't make that determination.”

“We have sync with one of the sensor contacts,” LT Butler yelled out.

ADM Chaffin was now aware that these sensor contacts were moving toward Colossus and not away. He also told him that one of the sensor contacts was inside their temporal time dilation bubble. That was the only way the computer could be sure that their temporal fields were in sync. ADM Chaffin paused to ponder what ADM McCall hoped to accomplish by sending his battlestars at him in null space. Weapons are useless. Spaceships traversed the void of null space as little more than energized shadows. They were impervious to physical harm. This realization brought him to the thought that ADM McCall might be planning to sacrifice two of his battlestars to knock Colossus and Goliath out of null space. That idea was supported by the expectation that Orion was trying to get away.

“The sensor contact has merged into our temporal field,” LT Butler reported through the capsule's intercom.

ADM Chaffin was about to order his helmsman to move away from the contact when he heard the last report. He now knew that their escape was impossible. By shutting down its temporal field, the sensor contact became a fixture inside Colossus' time-jump bubble. The DPG09 battlestar was coming along for the ride no matter what he did, and ADM Chaffin was momentarily stunned by this realization.

“Two more sensor contacts are in sync,” LT Butler urgently spoke. “One of the contacts has just merged—both contacts are now merged with us, and another contact has just synced.”

“Admiral!” CAPT Hoffman called in alarm. “Orders?”

ADM Chaffin was disoriented by the speed of its developing event. Only a few seconds had passed from its inception. As the situation quickly progressed, his options seemed to dwindle. He knew there was no escape from the trap that was about to trigger around him, so he decided to trip it himself.

“A fourth contact has merged with us and I'm counting at least three more approaching,” LT Butler rattled out as fast as he could.

“Shut down the temporal projector! Shut it down now!”

LT Perry heard ADM Chaffin's order resound in the capsule and initiated it without waiting for a relay from CAPT Hoffman. Two seconds later, the static on the external video monitors was replaced with a rotating view of the star speckled black of real space. The helmsman promptly reported that the computer automatically activated the maneuvering thrusters stabilizing the basestar.

“Speed?” CAPT Hoffman yelled out for a report.

“Zero point zero-two-eight LS,” LT Perry quickly returned.

CAPT Hoffman extrapolated from Perry’s report that Colossus was close to 20 hours away from jump speed. He devoted no time to thinking about what had to be done. With the press of a touch screen button, CAPT Hoffman adjusted his headphone for a ship wide address.

“Battle stations,” CAPT Hoffman blared into his mouthpiece. “CIC, report.”

“Detecting multiple time-jump event energy bursts—eight so far,” CDR Nielsen announced in a rush. “Strong readings, they're definitely local. The count is now 13—all local.”

ADM Chaffin pressed the touch screen button for Commander Rick Chapman on his intercom display.

“Chapman, launch a division of starfighters,” ADM Chaffin commanded into his microphone. “Nothing gets into our combat zone.”

“Roger that,” came CDR Chapman’s reply.

Without a second’s delay, ADM Chaffin switched his intercom connection to CAPT Hoffman.

“Captain, I want us back up to jump speed ASAP.”

No sooner had ADM Chaffin finished his last order did a hurried report from a CIC team member commence.

“Battlestar, seven o'clock high—just entering our sensor field.”

“Second battlestar,” another CIC officer began reporting. “Entering sensor field at one o'clock low, low.”

Sending starfighters out to the edge of Colossus' sensor field was not a smart strategy in ADM Chaffin's mind. He thought this was especially true given the number of battlestars he suspected was out there. By was his calculation, the size of the starfighter force he would need to send out to destroy each battlestar would severely weaken Colossus' fighter screen. Waiting for the battlestars to come closer seemed a better plan. He knew the battlestars and their starfighter escorts were no threat to Colossus at half the distance out from where they were now. It was also his calculation that time was not on DPG09's side. Colossus’ main engines were at full thrust and gaining speed with every passing second. ADM Chaffin was confident that the DPG09 War-Machine could not spring its trap on him a second time, and it was his goal to get Colossus back above jump speed as fast as possible.

Colossus was thirty minutes into its race to get back up to time-jump speed when a transmission from Basestar Goliath came in. The transmission was a situation report that detailed its location in space and time, its trajectory, its speed and the DPG09 forces confronting it. After hearing the report, ADM Chaffin understood the extent and the goal of this trap. Getting back up to jump speed became doubly important in ADM Chaffin's mind. In his thinking it was critical that Colossus reunite with Goliath. He knew that the loss of Goliath would severely weaken his command.

“Castellano, open an encoded outside channel,” ADM Chaffin ordered moments after hearing the report from Goliath.

Seconds after giving that order, ADM Chaffin transmitted his message ordering CAPT Larsen of the Goliath to fend off his attackers as needed and to prioritize the task of getting back up to jump speed quickly. Sending this message was important to ADM Chaffin because he knew Goliath was far closer to jump speed than Colossus. He also wanted CAPT Larsen to understand the urgency. The last thing he wanted Goliath to do was waste time pursuing a bunch of stray battlestars. Recombining his force and going after the Orion was the battle plan that ADM Chaffin was determined to execute just as soon as he got his basestars out of these traps.

“What’s our speed?” ADM Chaffin barked.

“Zero point zero-three-seven LS,” LT Perry reported.

Three quarters of an hour had passed since ADM Chaffin last asked that question. By now, four updated reports from the Goliath told him that the DPG09 battlestars were aggressively pursuing it. That behavior was decidedly different from the way the DPG09 battlestars around Colossus were conducting themselves. The battlestars around Colossus seemed content to just shadow the basestar from afar. ADM Chaffin suspected this dichotomy had everything to do with the missing starfighters of WDF02 Basestar Orion. He had no doubt that Orion was lurking nearby in the black of space, but he was not sure which of his two basestars would be the first to be engaged by Orion's large force of starfighters. Several minutes later, he got his answer.

“Admiral,” LT Castellano called out with alarm in his voice. “The Goliath is reporting that it’s under attack by a large force of starfighters and battlestars.”

The capsule went silent in response to this report. There was no movement as all waited for a response from ADM Chaffin, but he gave none. ADM Chaffin knew there was no response or action he could take. The Goliath was on its own and the Colossus needed to concentrate on its own situation. After several seconds of silence, CAPT Hoffman ordered his crew to attend to their stations. Several minutes later, LT Castellano transmitted a new report through the capsule’s intercom system.

“Goliath reports 417 starfighters and eight battlestars have made it through its fighter screen. Most are on trajectories wide of Goliath’s combat zone.”

Once again, ADM Chaffin gave no response. The following silence lasted just long enough for the crew to comprehend that there would be no reply. The crew went back to the work of tracking the threats around them and positioning their starfighters to engage potential attacks. Work continued until Castellano called out another report.

“The Goliath is engaging with its onboard weapons to repel 28 starfighters and three battlestars that have breached its combat perimeter.”

The command capsule crew of Basestar Colossus stopped long enough to listen to the report, then went back to the work at hand. They were all eager to hear ADM Chaffin’s thoughts on the battle with Goliath, but by now they were accustomed to his stoic silence. Half of the crew in the capsule were ill placed to see the Admiral and note his pondering as he stared into space. ADM Chaffin knew there was nothing to look at or study as he waited for the outcome of Goliath’s battle with the Orion starfighters. Twelve minutes had passed when LT Castellano broke into the capsule’s intercom and began to speak with a tremor in his voice.

“Admiral, we’ve just received a message from the commanding officer of Basestar Goliath’s 2nd Wing 1st Division Starfighter Force.”

ADM Chaffin heard the dread in LT Castellano’s voice and surmised that a message from a Goliath wing commander would not be good news. He feared to hear what the wing commander had to say. For the first time, he seriously entertained the possibility that his command might end in failure and the thought terrified him. After taking a deep composing breath, ADM Chaffin acknowledge the statement from LT Castellano with the words, “let’s hear it.”

With a press of a touch screen button, LT Castellano started the playback of the recorded message through half a dozen speakers around the capsule.

_“This is Lieutenant Commander Brent Hayward, Basestar Goliath Wing Commander, 2 nd Wing 1st Division Starfighter Force speaking to Basestar Colossus. Be advised, WDF02 Basestar Goliath has been destroyed. I repeat, WDF02 Basestar Goliath has been destroyed. The surviving members of Basestar Goliath’s starfighter force—779 strong—are in route to your location—ETA 13 hours—requesting orders and assistance if possible. I repeat, WDF02 Basestar Goliath has been destroyed. The surviving 779 members of Basestar Goliath’s starfighter force are in route to your location. Our ETA is 13 hours—requesting orders and assistance. This is Lieutenant Commander Brent Hayward, out.” _

The occupants of Basestar Colossus’ command capsule fell into a stunned silence. Dozens of nervous eyes searched the room for a pair of eyes that were less nervous than their own. CAPT Hoffman looked across to ADM Chaffin and held his gaze as he waited for a response. After a long pause, ADM Chaffin activated his microphone.

“Castellano, send a message to Lieutenant Commander Hayward that he and his command are to rally to me at his best possible speed. And advise him that we can give no assistance at this time.”

After LT Castellano acknowledged the order, ADM Chaffin turned his attention to CAPT Hoffman.

“Captain, ready your basestar for battle.”

This was a warning and not a command. ADM Chaffin knew that the Orion and its starfighters were coming for the Colossus and that they were coming at their best possible speed. It made perfect sense that ADM McCall would want to get to the Colossus while it was below jump speed. By ADM Chaffin's estimation, he was 15 to 16 hours out from a time-jump and six to eight hours out from an engagement with Orion and its starfighters. At that he thoughtfully weighed the pluses and minuses of fight or flight.

ADM Chaffin knew that the 779 starfighters of the Goliath were not going to arrive in time to help Colossus in the initial battle with the Orion’s starfighters. He also knew that Colossus could not hide and wait with 19 DPG09 battlestars shadowing it. ADM Chaffin knew his options were simple: do nothing and stay the course or destroy those 19 battlestars and their starfighter escorts. The latter had the risk of significantly weakening Colossus' starfighter force. The former guaranteed that the Colossus would do battle with those same 19 battlestars and their escorts while simultaneously fending off the Orion’s starfighters. It took ADM Chaffin less than a minute to decide on a course of action.

“Captain, reduce sensor field by 40% and direct the excess power to the main engines. Commander Konoval, launch all starfighters. Destroy those battlestars and their escorts. Defending the Colossus and destroying those vessels are one and the same. Do you understand?”

“Roger that, Admiral,” CDR Konoval returned without hesitation.

CDR Oleg Konoval was the commanding officer of the Colossus starfighter force and had been impatiently waiting for permission to go after these battlestars and their escorts. Why this needed to be done was not a thought he entertained. He had the forces to overwhelm the DPG09 battlestars and their support starfighters, and it galled him that they were shadowing the Colossus. His first stream of commands was all lined up in CDR Konoval’s thoughts and he began blaring them out an instant after he acknowledged the order from the Admiral. Thirty minutes later, all 19 DPG09 battlestars were fighting to survive.

“Konoval, report,” ADM Chaffin beckoned impatiently.

Ninety minutes had passed since the start of fighting between the starfighters of Basestar Colossus and the DPG09 battlestars that were shadowing it. This was ADM Chaffin’s seventh request for a progress report. He paid no attention to the casualties incurred in these engagements. His only concern was the tally of battlestars destroyed. The slow pace of the battle was making him increasingly uneasy.

“Four battlestars have been destroyed,” CDR Konoval reported back to ADM Chaffin.

“That’s what you said ten minutes ago,” ADM Chaffin argued.

CDR Konoval was annoyed by the rebuke. He thought that the act of directing the battle would be easier if ADM Chaffin would just stop demanding updates on his progress.

“The battlestars are deliberately staying outside of our sensor field,” CDR Konoval explained with a hint of exasperation in his voice. “They have a situational awareness advantage over our starfighters out there. We’re losing five starfighters to every one of theirs.”

“I don’t care about starfighters, Commander,” ADM Chaffin fumed. “Getting rid of the starfighters will be easy after you destroy the battlestars.”

CDR Konoval was concerned for his starfighter pilots. ADM Chaffin’s declaration that he did not care about the starfighters brought his temper to the fore.

“With all due respect, Admiral,” CDR Konoval growled into his microphone. “We could lose half our starfighter force pursuing those battlestars outside of our sensor field. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“The DPG09 battlestars have star-drives,” CAPT Hoffman quickly interceded, diffusing the quarrel. “When activated, even at minimum power, they will register in null space. They’re beacons for the Orion and its escort of battlestars. Right now, we need to hide, and we can’t do that with those battlestars shadowing us.”

That explanation instantly made sense to CDR Konoval, but he still took a moment to be amazed by its logic. The Orion was sure to collect its force of starfighters and then use its star-drive to ferry them to the Colossus. By doing that, the Orion and its docking bay full of starfighters were sure to arrive long before the Goliath’s starfighters. Hiding would likely delay the coming battle long enough for the 779 starfighters from the Goliath to come to their aid.

“Concentrate on the battlestars,” ADM Chaffin insisted with finality.

“Yes sir,” CDR Konoval concurred without a hint of resistance.

ADM Chaffin was anticipating that the starfighter escorts of the battlestars would eventually run out of ammunition. Docking the starfighters to a battlestar in the middle of combat was thought to be impractical, and attempting it was sure to be dangerous for the battlestar and the starfighter. By ADM Chaffin’s calculation, pressing the attack on the battlestars would ultimately deplete the starfighters weapon stores. The crew of the Colossus was five hours into the battle when they began to see visible evidence of the Admiral’s calculations.

“DPG09 starfighter loses are increasing,” CDR Konoval blurted out through the command capsule’s speakers. “I think they’re running out of ammunition.”

“Where are we with the battlestars?” ADM Chaffin questioned in a commanding tone.

“They’re down to five battlestars,” CDR Konoval quickly returned with an inflection of satisfaction.

“I need those battlestars destroyed,” ADM Chaffin roared back through the capsule speakers. “You’ve got one hour, Commander. Get it done!”

It was ADM Chaffin’s estimation that the Orion could arrive in another hour at the earliest, but he expected its arrival within the next two to three hours. Nonetheless, he preferred not to take a risk on his expectation. Pushing his starfighter force commander to hurry with the destruction of the battlestars shadowing them was the only thing he could do to try to eliminate the risk. Repeated inquiries and pushing over the next hour brought ADM Chaffin and his command to the precipice of his goal.

“Admiral, they’re down to one battlestar and a handful of starfighters,” CDR Konoval declared somberly. “They’re far out from us, but they still won’t leave.”

“They’re trying to stay within visual range,” CAPT Hoffman responded.

“I know, but it’s useless,” CDR Konoval returned with a shake of his head. “I have 200 starfighters pursuing them. They won’t last another ten minutes.”

ADM Chaffin had no other comment to input. He was waiting for the moment when he could change the trajectory of the Colossus, pull its sensor field back to minimum range and then shut down the main engines. He knew every passing minute would greatly expand the area of space that the Colossus could hide in. After 20 minutes, the Orion basestar’s chances of egressing from null space close enough to detect the Colossus with magnetic sensors would be astronomical. Visually detecting the basestar would be their only option and doing that would be tantamount to discerning a black marble atop a barge full of coal. In ADM Chaffin’s mind, he was about thirty minutes away from escaping the trap he had stumbled into.

“Energy burst!” A CIC team crewman yelled out.

ADM Chaffin, startled by the report, quickly turned his attention to the 3D monitor at the center of the capsule.

“It’s definitely a time-jump event and it’s close,” the CIC crewman continued.

“Where is it?” CAPT Hoffman called out as he searched the monitor.

“It originated off our seven o’clock high,” the CIC crewman answered. “I’m still trying to fix its location.”

“What’s our starfighter status?” ADM Chaffin questioned his starfighter commanding officer.

“We have 667 starfighters,” CDR Konoval recited from memory. “About 300 of them are scattered out past our sensor field.

“Pull all starfighters back to defensive stations around Colossus,” ADM Chaffin commanded with a hint of desperation in his voice. “Extend sensor field out to combat distance.”

It was nearly ten minutes later when CIC found a visual of Basestar Orion. It was far outside of Colossus' sensor field, and there was no glow of thrusters to highlight its location. It was only by the reflection of starlight that it was optically captured.

“It's moving fast,” a CIC crewman reported. “I estimate that it's falling at four times our speed, and it looks to be on a trajectory that's going to cut across ours.”

By now, the Colossus was moving through space at 0.132 of light speed and accelerating. ADM Chaffin gave no thought to changing the trajectory of the Colossus at that moment. He knew the drastic course correction needed to effectively elude the coming crisscross would produce a significant reduction in their speed, and that was the last thing he wanted to happen. It was this preference that set his mind to the task of winning the battle to come.

Basestar Orion’s speed was the only advantage it had over Colossus. ADM Chaffin expected the Orion to be moving too fast for his own starfighters to intercept it. By his calculation, that was both bad and good news. The bad news was that the Orion was invulnerable to attack by the starfighters of the Colossus because of its speed. The good news was that the massive sensor field of the Orion would not be a factor in the coming engagement. CIC estimated that Orion’s sensor field would be in play for little more than a minute—the same amount of time calculated for it to wash over the Colossus. The minimal presence of Orion's sensor field meant that the charge of its starfighters would have to be done by dead reckoning. Blind steering would stay in effect until the starfighters were close enough to envelope the Colossus with their own tiny sensor fields. ADM Chaffin calculated the prolonged blindness of the DPG09 starfighters greatly enhanced Colossus’ chance of surviving the coming attack, battle and war.

ADM Chaffin counted on diminishing returns for his salvation. The initial attack of the DPG09 starfighters was going to be costly for them, and he had no doubt that all future attacks, if any, would have a decreased chance for success. The only thing that could increase their chance for success would be if Basestar Orion slowed to fix its sensor field over the battle space, so ADM Chaffin surmised that ADM McCall would never do that because that would make Orion a target, forcing a significant portion of its smaller starfighter force to defend it. ADM Chaffin concluded that the starfighter force attacking the Colossus was doomed to get smaller and smaller with each new engagement. And with each attempt the arrival time of Goliath’s 779 starfighters would be closer.

The big concern of ADM Chaffin now was that the additional DPG09 battlestars were sure to arrive before the Goliath starfighters. So, it was imperative to him that Colossus get back up to jump speed, and this it was sure to do if it survived this initial attack of the Orion starfighters. By ADM Chaffin’s assessment, the coming engagement would be the most crucial battle and the defining moment of this war. He had no doubt that the 779 starfighters of the Goliath would shift this battle decidedly in his favor. They just needed to survive the first attack—seven minutes later the battle started.

“Sensor field,” CDR Nielsen called out. “The Orion has eyes on us.”

No one in the capsule was surprised to hear that Orion’s sensor field enveloped them first. Unlike the Colossus, the DPG09 basestar was falling through space with its thruster engines off. The difference gave the Orion a larger reservoir of power to apply to its sensor field projector.

“Sensor contact,” a CIC team crewman called out. “Speed zero point three seven LS. It’s “definitely” the Orion. It’s crossing in front of us and it will fall off our screens in 50 seconds at my mark…Mark.”

ADM Chaffin took in this report in silent indifference. The Orion basestar was a future target, not the immediate threat. The report that ADM Chaffin was waiting to hear came several seconds later.

“Starfighters!”

ADM Chaffin ignored the report. Instead, he quickly put on his 3D helmet so he could see what the CIC crewmen were looking at. With a point and a few gestures of his hands, he isolated and zoomed in on a graphic display of the Orion. He could see digital representations of starfighters spewing out from the basestar. He could see the computer tally of their numbers rapidly going up. When the last starfighter left the basestar the tally stopped on a number that CDR Nielsen called out.

“Three-hundred and forty-one… They’re on an intercept trajectory along a broad front.”

This made perfect sense to ADM Chaffin. The sphere of Orion’s sensor field was doomed to fall away from the engagement long before the starfighters moved into the combat zone of Colossus, forcing the DPG09 starfighters to fly in blind. Subsequently, ADM McCall had no choice but to spread his starfighters out into a net large enough to catch the Colossus no matter what alterations it made in its trajectory. In ADM Chaffin’s mind, this action was tactically wise and militarily weak. He knew that a thick concentration of starfighters charging toward the Colossus was DPG09’s only chance for success. This thin screen of starfighters is just what ADM Chaffin wanted to see.

“Orion’s sensor field has passed,” CDR Nielsen reported through the intercom. “Visual tracking shows the basestar continuing to fall away on the same trajectory.”

“Enemy starfighters eleven minutes out from our combat zone,” CDR Nielsen announced through the capsule’s intercom.

“Castellano,” ADM Chaffin called out through the intercom. “Connect me to all starfighters.”

LT Castellano acknowledged the order with a quick “copy” as he executed it with a few taps to his touch screen.

“You’re connected, Admiral,” LT Castellano reported a second later.

ADM Chaffin took a moment to organize his thoughts, and then he activated his headset microphone.

“This is Admiral Chaffin. Three hundred and forty-one starfighters of the Orion Basestar are coming toward us. Their goal is to destroy Colossus, but they will fail. They will fail because we outnumber them in starfighters two to one. They will fail because we can see more and further than they can. Colossus will survive this engagement, but we need to do more than survive. We must take advantage of this opportunity. Every enemy starfighter that you do not destroy in this engagement will form up with another group of battlestars that I believe are coming. Time is not on our side, but it’s not on theirs either. Seven-hundred and seventy-nine starfighters of the Goliath are on their way to us. The enemy must attack now while Colossus is still below jump speed. This is their do or die moment and our chance to inflict a crippling blow that will end any hope they have of winning this war. Starfighter pilots of WDF02 Basestar Colossus, this is your moment. This is the engagement that wins the war. Do your worst. Admiral Chaffin, over and out.”


	25. High Stakes

“This is Captain Webber of the Kalomo, as senior officer, I assume command of this battlegroup. All battlestars are to take up positions near the outer perimeter of the basestar’s sensor field. Do not engage unless attacked.”

Captain Webber transmitted this message to Battlestars Camden, Millau, and Pavnar. Fifteen minutes earlier the four of them tumbled out of null space with Basestar Colossus in the same egress event. Additional time-jump egresses were being detected every few minutes. It was another 30 minutes later when the last time-jump energy burst registered in Kalomo sensors. Within this time span, Captain Webber delivered his status report, received orders from ADM McCall to shadow Basestar Colossus but not to engage. Captain Webber managed to comply with his orders for the next ninety minutes. Captain Webber observed that the Colossus showed no interest in engaging with the 19 battlestars and 171 starfighters under his command.

“Captain, the Colossus has pulled back its sensor field,” a CIC crewman urgently reported.

“Battle stations,” Captain Webber called out to his command capsule crew. “Launch all starfighters.”

CAPT Webber had plenty of time to anticipate the behavior of Colossus. He deduced that the destruction of Goliath would motivate ADM Chaffin to act against his battlegroup. When the report that Goliath had been destroyed came in from DPG09 Wing Commander Masamune several minutes earlier, he knew that Colossus was only moments away from the same information. The pull back of their sensor field was not something CDR Webber anticipated, but he quickly surmised that Colossus was diverting the reclaimed energy to its thrusters. The reaction he did anticipate appeared within their own sensor fields several minutes later.

“Enemy starfighters, dozens of them,” a CIC crewman shouted. “They're approaching fast!”

Captain Webber tapped his computer touch screen and initiated a communication link with his starfighter squadron’s senior officer.

“Commander Reynolds, break up that formation.” 

_~~~~~Line Break~~~~~_

Lieutenant Commander Mark Reynolds was the senior starfighter pilot assigned to Battlestar Kalomo. His squadron was a total of ten starfighters—the maximum number of starfighters that the Kalomo could accommodate.

“Okay guys, it's time to go to work,” LCDR Reynolds transmitted to his squad.

With a touch of his finger to the control panel sleeve on his right arm, LCDR Reynolds ended the transmission. Control panel were on both LCDR Reynolds’ sleeves. Attached to the outer sides of both sleeves were his laser pointers. The control panels and the head gear were the only electronics affixed to him. Most of the electronics operating the starfighter were in the lining of the cockpit. Visuals and animated graphics of the starfighter’s surroundings were displayed on the walls of the sphere. All the sensor data being fed into the cockpit came from the Kalomo. Using the sensor field of a basestar or a battlestar was a power savings for starfighters.

LCDR Reynolds floated in his starfighter’s artificially produced zero-gravity cockpit sphere. The zero-gravity space within the sphere prevented inertia up to 50g’s from producing any sensation of movement. Inertia over 50g’s did produce a sensation of movement, and 70g’s was enough to disable the zero-gravity generator altogether. Repulsive electromagnetism between his suit and the lining of the cockpit kept LCDR Reynolds situated in the center of the sphere. Motion capture programming enabled him to manipulate his starfighter in both shell and humanoid configurations with hand, arm and body movements. With the motion capture programming turned off, and only in its shell-like configuration, he could steer the starfighter with verbal commands and laser pointer.

Kalomo’s starfighter squad was positioned out to the perimeter of its combat zone between it and Colossus. LCDR Reynolds took manual control of his starfighter and began to thrust it toward the large formation of enemy starfighters falling toward Kalomo. His computer displayed a count of 50 enemy starfighters. While in a headfirst fall with his arms by his sides and his legs stretched back, LCDR Reynolds initiated a brief burn of his thrusters by directing the flat of his palms behind him and flexing his feet so that his toes pointed back. His squadron followed his lead and began a leisurely push toward the WDF02 starfighters.

LCDR Reynolds did not want to fall through the WDF02 starfighters too quickly. The plan was to engage with the enemy starfighters, destroy as many of them as they could and force the remainder off their trajectories. When the WDF02 starfighters came to within combat-range, LCDR Reynolds made U pattern gesture with his arms. The starfighter computer responded to his action by cracking the hull open along a hundred different interconnecting diagonal lines. The seed shaped hull of the starfighter broke apart into dozens of geometric shapes. As the shapes moved apart, the starfighter expanded out to its basic humanoid configuration.

The new starfighter configuration took up four times more space. The head was essentially a platform for sensors, scanners, optics, communications and particle beam attachments. Much of the exoskeleton was a lattice of mechanical limbs. The upper torso was a reinforced housing for the cockpit. The abdominal area housed thrusters that faced forward and back. The upper and lower legs and upper arms housed the power plants. Repulsor engines were located at the feet and hands. Each forearm was a housing for five railguns affixed to the underside in a circular configuration. Altogether they could discharge one-thousand warheads per minute.

The deployment into this humanoid configuration took little more than one second. Instantly after transforming LCDR Reynolds’ starfighter began spewing out railgun warheads in rapid succession; his squadron did the same. Each projectile that spurted out of the railgun left a bright spark of light behind as they quickly disappeared into the black of space. Firing paused again and again as starfighters adjusted their aim for new targets. The starfighters needed only to reposition an arm to affect a new aim. These adjustments lasted for a second or less. Repeated short burns of the maneuvering thrusters were used to adjust position and steady their aim.

The exchange between LCDR Reynolds’ starfighter squadron and the 50 WDF02 starfighters lasted for twelve seconds. Each group danced and maneuvered to evade the rain of projectiles streaming toward them. The desperate evasive actions threw most of the WDF02 starfighters off their planned trajectories. When the two groups were clear of each other, the tally of WDF02 starfighters destroyed was three, and LCDR Reynolds’ squadron went from ten to four.

_~~~~~Line Break~~~~~_

“Captain, 47 enemy starfighters have made it through the fighter screen,” CDR Bowen reported. “All will pass through our close-range zone and nine could come into lethal-range.”

CDR Bowen did not tell CAPT Webber anything he did not already know. He had been studying the approach of the WDF02 starfighters from the moment they appeared on Kalomo’s sensor field screen.

“Give me a three second reverse thrust burn, then divert ten degrees down and to the right,” CAPT Webber ordered without moment’s delay.

CAPT Webber ordered this maneuver to improve Kalomo’s chance of surviving the coming assault. The fact that they were outside Colossus’ sensor field was also an encouragement, which meant the Kalomo would not register in the enemy’s computers until the sensor fields of the starfighters enveloped them. Compared to a battlestar, starfighter sensor fields were small. With the change in trajectory, CAPT Webber knew there was a chance that several of the enemy starfighters would pass the Kalomo without seeing it.

“Enemy starfighters will be in combat-range in 30 seconds,” a CIC crewman announced.

“Charge all weapon systems,” CAPT Webber responded.

For the next three minutes, Kalomo destroyed and slipped between hundreds of warheads. Two enemy starfighters were also destroyed, but the Kalomo came away intact. The surviving enemy starfighters that fell across the Kalomo’s path collapsed back into their shells and disappeared into the black. The WDF02 starfighters reversed their thrusts when they were beyond Kalomo’s sensor field. While forty-five Colossus starfighters pursued the Kalomo, a dozen other battlestars in CAPT Webber’s battlegroup were fighting for their survival. Across a span of ten minutes, DPG09 Battlestars Panaji and Valentia were destroyed. CAPT Webber’s battlegroup now numbered 17 battlestars.

It took the 45 starfighters of the Colossus 33 minutes to catch up with the Kalomo’s sensor field. The other 16 battlestars of the Kalomo Battlegroup were also being harried or minutes away from it. Everyone in the battlegroup knew that the second attack would be costlier than the first because of their matching speed and trajectories. The starfighters of the Colossus were now able to harry the battlestars for an indefinitely. Several seconds after they appeared within the outer perimeter of Kalomo’s sensor field, CAPT Webber transmitted the following order to the LCDR Reynolds.

“Commander, engage those starfighters.”

“Captain!” LCDR Reynolds called back with a mixture of alarm and anger. “Engaging those starfighters is suicide. Nothing we do is going to stop them from getting through.”

“Commander,” CAPT Webber growled back into his headset microphone. “You either engage those starfighters or forfeit your contract.”

LCDR Reynolds knew that his claim of suicide was an exaggeration. He knew the probability of surviving the destruction of a starfighter was 73%. He also understood his contractual obligation to undertake all military actions that were not suicidal and had an achievable objective. The objective here was not to destroy the enemy starfighters, but to hinder their ability to destroy the Kalomo. Despite understanding the objective, LCDR Reynolds was not looking forward to having his starfighter destroyed and risking the possibility of damage to his cockpit.

The cockpit was designed to sustain the pilot despite the destruction of the surrounding vessel. The cockpit represented less than 1% of the starfighter, and the escape pod was engineered to sustain its occupant for a minimum of 500 hours. Escape pod beacons transmitted signals when deployed or activated. They also transmitted biotelemetry on the status of its occupant. LCDR Reynolds knew the probability of surviving the destruction of his starfighter was good. Fear of enduring the event that had him reluctant to obey CAPT Webber’s order. On the opposite side, it was the fear of losing a payout from Starcorp DPG09 that made him reluctant to disobey. If he was to disobey the order, the loss of income would happen regardless of the outcome.

“Roger, Captain,” LCDR Reynolds transmitted back. “Engaging enemy starfighters.”

_~~~~~Line Break~~~~~_

“I’m hit! I’m hit!” LT Rupp yelled into his microphone.

LCDR Reynolds was too busy dodging the incoming fire from a dozen WDF02 starfighters to give any attention to LT Rupp’s cry. The lining of his cockpit sphere displayed threats all around him. His starfighter computer announced threats as they appeared. Announcements were localized to spots in the sphere that matched the direction of the threat. Projectiles appeared as tiny dots of light that grew brighter and larger as they came closer. Eventually the dots turned into holographic streams of light that flew across the sphere. These audible and visual alerts gave LCDR Reynolds the awareness he needed to evade attacks with acts of zero-gravity acrobatics. Intermittent in his maneuvers were moments when he returned fire. He needed only to clinch his fist to discharge dozens of warheads per second down the point of his laser. The cockpit illustrated his barrage with bursts of holographic light which dissolved into the sphere lining.

_I got one_ , LCDR Reynolds thought after seeing one of his targets flash red and then disappear from the display. He felt a swell of satisfaction. He did not want his starfighter destroyed before he could destroy at least one enemy starfighter. He believed the destruction of his own starfighter was inevitable since the WDF02 starfighters were now falling in the same direction and speed as he. He expected this firefight to continue until the destruction of his squadron. LCDR Reynolds instinctively knew it was just a matter of time before he was clipped by a projectile, leaving him unable to maneuver, making him an easier target for a second projectile. The first one or two impacts were routinely the beginning of a cascade of impacts that would rip the starfighter apart.

“Oh my God! I’m hit! I’m… ah!”

LT Tobin’s name appeared on LCDR Reynolds’ display when this message reverberated in from the direction of its author. _It’s just two of us now_ , LCDR Reynolds briefly thought to himself with a new rush of panic. He knew he could not give assistance to the other member of his squadron and none could be given to him. His time and attention were devoted to surviving multiple attacks from enemy starfighters and the fire raining down at him. His return fire was motivated by a need to keep his attackers off balance rather than an expectation of hitting his target. With the loss of another squadron member, he expected more enemy starfighters to turn their attention to him. By his calculation, he was seconds away from destruction and possible death. He dodged incoming projectiles frenetically until it noticeably subsided.

“Mark! I’m…”

LCDR Reynolds needed to hear no more than that to know that LT Kang’s starfighter had been struck by a projectile and was likely out of the fight. He was now alone. In that instant, his fear spiked to a whole new height. He expected the intensity of the projectiles coming at him to increase, but that is not what happened. After 15 seconds of dodging and firing back, the volume of fire coming at him continued to decrease. Previously, the heat of battle kept him too busy to discern the big picture. It was only now that the conflict was subsiding around him that he felt secure enough to look beyond his immediate concern. It took only a glance for him to see that the Kalomo was under heavy fire. Most of the WDF02 starfighters were orbiting the Kalomo like bees around a hive.

_I’ve got you now_ , LCDR Reynolds thought as he rifled a torrent of projectiles at an enemy starfighter. Before that moment, he could not afford to devote much attention to any single target. Maintaining a fixed trajectory for two seconds so that he could lock onto a target also made him an easy target. Now there were only five WDF02 starfighters pursuing him and two of them were busy evading his previous burst of fire. After slipping between three streams of fire, LCDR Reynolds saw a window of opportunity to go after one of the starfighters that was shooting at him. The closest WDF02 starfighter made the fatal mistake of missing his target. Within a few seconds, LCDR Reynolds’ double barrel barrage ripped the enemy starfighter apart. The enemy pilot had just enough time to correct his aim and fire a half second burst. But LCDR Reynolds had already moved to avoid three other streams of fire.

LCDR Reynolds took a few seconds to rifle out multiple bursts of projectiles at the four remaining WDF02 starfighters pursuing him. While firing, he dodged and danced around crisscrossing streams of enemy fire while moving away from them. He instinctively knew that he could not let two or more of them get too close. Evasion grew easier with distance and more difficult with the addition of each new enemy starfighter. Several seconds into his escape, the computer display indicated his starfighter was no longer enveloped by Kalomo’s sensor field.

Using his own sensor field to guide him, LCDR Reynolds continued to push away from the four WDF02 starfighters pursuing him. When he reached a comfortable distance, he took a second to point a finger at an area of space where the Kalomo should be. The computer displayed a circle around the area indicated. When that occurred, LCDR Reynolds opened his hand and pulled his palm halfway in toward his face. The computer magnified the display, but there was no tag in the display for the Battlestar Kalomo. What LCDR Reynolds saw in the display were tags for dozens of space capsules in free fall. He inferred that Battlestar Kalomo had been destroyed.

For nearly a minute, LCDR Reynolds listened to the SOS radio transmissions from the Kalomo Space Capsules while dodging attacks from WDF02 starfighters. Now it was clear to him that the number of enemy starfighters pursuing him had grown. The mission was a failure. With no battlestar to defend or support, LCDR Reynolds turned his efforts to the task of survival. He retracted his starfighter into its casing, steered it onto a trajectory that took him further out from the sensor field of the Colossus and applied maximum thrust.

_~~~~~Line Break~~~~~_

“This is the Battlestar Fitzroy. Dock your starfighter and come aboard.”

Captain Bruce Driscoll knew he needed to say no more than what was in his transmission. All pertinent information about the starfighter and the battlestar was exchanged between their computers by way of their overlapping sensor fields. This was the fourth DPG09 starfighter sensor field to intersect with CAPT Driscoll’s battlestar over the past hour. Collecting and rearming these starfighters was the only thing he could think to do. 

The Fitzroy was the last surviving battlestar of the Kalomo Battlegroup. When the Colossus sent its starfighters out after the battlestars shadowing it, the Fitzroy escaped destruction with the help of two additional battlestars and their combined starfighter escorts. It took nearly an hour for 200 WDF02 starfighters to destroy two of the DPG09 battlestars and all 29 of their starfighter escorts. When the Fitzroy found itself alone with 57 enemy starfighters circling it and two dozen more approaching, CAPT Driscoll chose to steer his battlestar away from the Colossus. He continued his trajectory until the WDF02 starfighters gave up the chase. Then he turned back toward the Colossus and commenced collecting stray DPG09 starfighters.

It took half an hour for the fourth starfighter to catch up with the Fitzroy and dock. When it got itself situated inside one of Fitzroy’s docking spaces, he initiated an intercom connection with CAPT Driscoll.

“I'm Lieutenant Commander Mark Reynolds of the Kalomo Starfighter Squadron. The Kalomo was destroyed by enemy starfighters.”

“I know that commander,” CAPT Driscoll returned. “The Fitzroy is the last surviving battlestar of the Kalomo Battlegroup,” CAPT Driscoll continued solemnly. “Are there any more starfighters out there?” He questioned.

“No,” LCDR Reynolds sadly returned. “I'm the last from my squadron, and I haven't seen any others,”

“Okay, Commander,” CAPT Driscoll softly spoke. “You take a rest and I'll call you if I need you.”

“Captain,” LCDR Reynolds sharply spoke up. “You can't be planning to go after that basestar.”

“The Orion is coming, and the Fitzroy is the last beacon,” CAPT Driscoll explained as though speaking the obvious. “We have to stay within visual range.”

That explanation made sense to LCDR Reynolds despite his best effort to find a flaw. At the end of their brief deliberation, he accepted the plan with a nod and settled back into his pod to rest. CAPT Driscoll turned his attention to following the Colossus while staying far enough away to discourage its starfighters from pursuing him. Both tasks were not hard to accomplish. The Colossus was accelerating along a fixed trajectory. The Fitzroy computer maintained a running calculation of its position. Maintaining a visual was a simple matter of looking where it was calculated to be. And with the sensor field of the Colossus extended far below combat distance, the Fitzroy was free to operate within an easy distance of it and with a modicum of impunity. Discouraging the Colossus starfighters from attacking the Fitzroy was a simple matter of distance, sensor fields and firepower.

It soon became clear to CAPT Driscoll that the commander of the Colossus was reluctant to send large numbers of starfighters far out from the basestar to pursue his battlestar. He suspected ADM Chaffin wanted to keep them nearby to defend the basestar. There was also the problem of sending too few starfighters after the Fitzroy. Outside of the sensor field of the Colossus, the firepower of its starfighters was lessened. Without the vast overlapping sensor field of the Colossus, its starfighters were frequently blind to each other's location during the confusion of battle. Infrequently, they were blind to the location of their target during the confusion. Because of lapses in awareness, coordinating attacks in short order was near to impossible, and a severe detriment to the survival for a small number of WDF02 starfighters. But when the number of WDF02 starfighters grew from 30 to 200, it was the Fitzroy’s survival that was in severe peril. The accumulation of starfighters took 30 minutes to complete, at which time they started their approach.

“Captain, we just past threw a time-jump burst,” the Fitzroy CIC senior officer impassively reported. “Origin is close.”

CAPT Driscoll took the report in silence. He knew more information about the time-jump burst was shortly coming, and he had his suspicion that the Orion had just egressed from null space.

“It’s the Orion,” the CIC officer called out several seconds later.

An instant after hearing this report, CAPT Driscoll called his crew to battle stations. He had no doubt that the Orion was about to launch its starfighters at the Colossus, and he wanted to be ready to take whatever actions needed. What these actions might be was something that CAPT Driscoll did not know at that moment. He knew that his lone battlestar was not likely to have any effect in the coming engagement, but he was not going to let that stop him from prepping his battlestar for battle. The Fitzroy was ten minutes into the prep when a message came in from ADM McCall ordering him to engage where he could.

“Enemy starfighters appear to be moving away,” the senior CIC officer announced with a blurt.

CAPT Driscoll knew this report could not be easily verified. The sensor field of the Fitzroy did not extend far enough to envelope the enemy starfighters. Visual analysis was the only means the CIC officers had for assessing their numbers. The starfighters the CIC officer was speaking of were positioned toward the back end of the Colossus. An earlier analysis estimated that close to 300 WDF02 starfighters were between Fitzroy and Colossus. CAPT Driscoll was not surprised to hear that some of those starfighters or all of them were positioning themselves to engage with the Orion starfighters. That meant that they had to move out in front of the Colossus.

“Captain,” the communications officer called. “Admiral McCall reports that he has launched 268 starfighters toward the Colossus. He orders us to bring our sensor field forward to aid their assault.”

“It’s suicide,” CDR Bartlett cut in with an intonation of incredulity. “Even if we get close enough to lend our sensor field to the assault, we’ll be ripped apart in seconds.”

CAPT Driscoll understood the thinking behind ADM McCall’s order. Without the sensor field of the Orion to illuminate the battlespace, those 264 starfighters were limited to dead reckoning to steer themselves toward the Colossus. By bringing his battlestar into the battle, he could give the starfighters a target to steer toward.

“We’re going in,” CAPT Driscoll announced. “Helm, put us on trajectory for the front end of the Colossus—maximum thrust.”

The helm officer gave a quick “yes sir” in response, then commenced to make it happen. Reluctantly, CDR Bartlett settled back into his escape pod and accepted the decision. CAPT Driscoll then turned his attention to his touch screen and made a videophone connection with the four starfighter pilots in his battlestar. The faces of the pilots appeared in four segments on his monitor.

“Starfighter pilots, you can detach and sit this one out,” CAPT Driscoll advised in a solemn voice. “Hook up with the Orion starfighters after they make their pass.”

“Captain, you won’t make it to Colossus’ combat perimeter without starfighter support,” LCDR Reynolds argued.

The intonation in LCDR Reynolds voice suggested that he was pleading with CAPT Driscoll to reconsider this decision.

“Maybe, maybe not,” CAPT Driscoll pondered. “We’re seeing an open path to the Colossus up here.”

“You could be wrong, Captain,” LCDR Reynolds continued to implore in disbelief.

CAPT Driscoll took a moment to consider LCDR Reynolds’ words before responding with skepticism.

“No, Chaffin has done the math. He’s calculated that the guns of his basestar will tear us apart by the time we get halfway into their combat zone and he's probably betting we won't even try,” CAPT Driscoll spoke like he was convincing himself. “He positioned all his starfighters forward. That’s what I would do,” he finished with a nod of his head.

CAPT Driscoll waited a few seconds in silence for a confirmation or a reply. 

“If you know this assault won’t work, then why do it?” LCDR Reynolds queried in disbelief.

CAPT Driscoll paused to ponder the question and then answered.

“War is a high stakes venture, and I didn’t come here to lose.”

_~~~~~Line Break~~~~~_

The Fitzroy was moving toward the Colossus at maximum thrust when the four starfighter pilots began prepping for launch.

“Okay, we're out of here,” LT Hensley exclaimed through his intercom connection with the three other starfighter pilots.

“Roger that,” LT Kazama concurred.

One after the other, three of the four starfighters rose off their docking rails. The last starfighter sat still on its skis while the other three trailed away into the black. Inside that last starfighter, LCDR Reynolds was struggling a thought.

“Commander Reynolds,” CAPT Driscoll spoke through his videophone link. “You should launch. There's nothing you can do here.”

LCDR Reynolds was suspended in mid-air inside his starfighter cockpit when the image of CAPT Driscoll appeared in the monitor that lined his sphere.

“You're probably right, Captain,” LCDR Reynolds intoned ponderously. “Maybe there's something you can do for me,” he finished with dread.

LCDR Reynold made a calculation that he believed could work. He knew trying it would almost certainly get his starfighter shot to pieces, and he feared that outcome to an extreme. He knew it was fear motivating him to leave, and it was the heroics of others past and present encouraging him to take the risk.

“What are you saying, Commander?” CAPT Driscoll questioned.

LCDR Reynolds took a deep breath and spoke the words he feared to say.

“I want you to take me as far as you can.”

CAPT Driscoll took several seconds to absorb LCDR Reynolds' request. He surmised the commander’s plan and showed it with a knowing look. He then gave LCDR Reynolds a hint of a smile before speaking.

“You won't make it, Commander,” CAPT Driscoll warned with a nod.

“War is a high stakes venture, Captain, and I didn’t come here to lose.” LCDR Reynolds countered with a hint of a smile.

With a nod and a disconnect of the videophone communication, CAPT Driscoll agreed to this unspoken plan. The Fitzroy continued to move along an intercept trajectory for Basestar Colossus at maximum thrust. Five minutes later, LCDR Reynolds' starfighter was still attached to the hull of the Battlestar Fitzroy. Immediately, warheads from the Colossus began streaming by and bursting into hundreds of bright specs of light in the distant wake of the Fitzroy. The battlestar engaged its maneuvering thrusters to make slight shifts in its track that enabled it to slip between the onslaught of fire coming from the Colossus. Nearly two minutes later, the Fitzroy started using its Directed Energy Defense System to destroy warheads it could not evade. Another minute later, the smoke screen program began firing dozens of warheads per second into the battlestar’s path. Hundreds of bright flashes began bursting in front and around the battlestar. A fraction of a second behind each detonation, the Fitzroy streaked past the burst of light it produced.

“Smoke Screen Program engaged,” CAPT Driscoll reported to LCDR Reynolds through a videophone connection.

LCDR Reynolds watched the events unfold. His connection with the Fitzroy gave his starfighter access to the same data as the battlestar.

“Roger that,” LCDR Reynolds returned hesitantly.

LCDR Reynolds took a deep breath to prepare himself for his next words, and then he spoke.

“Computer, give me manual control.”

The computer acknowledged his command with a verbal response and acted on it in that same moment. A second later, LCDR Reynolds disengaged from the Fitzroy and lifted off. Still in its pumpkin seed configuration, the starfighter appeared to be hovering just above the battlestar.

“I am detached, Captain Driscoll,” LCDR Reynolds communicated through their sensor field connection. “Good luck to you,” he finished in a somber voice.

“Good luck to you, Commander,” CAPT Driscoll returned.

LCDR Reynolds immediately began maneuvering his starfighter toward the rear of the Fitzroy. Fifteen seconds later it trailed behind the battlestar by twice its length and was falling away. Through all of this, the Smoke Screen Program of the Fitzroy was in continuous operation. A full minute later, the Fitzroy appeared as a spot of light directly in front of the starfighter. Several seconds later that light began to break up. It only took a handful of seconds for nine warhead impacts to turn the Fitzroy into several large chunks of debris. Within that same span of time, LCDR Reynolds maneuvered his starfighter past the remains of the Fitzroy and projected his starfighter's sensor field out to combat-range. 

After the destruction of the Fitzroy, there was a lull in the fire from the Colossus. Then fire from the Colossus resumed with a new ferocity.

Evade! Evade! Evade!

The computer inside LCDR Reynolds cockpit warned repeatedly.

The lieutenant commander barely maneuvered under or over numerous incoming projectiles that streaked across his cockpit sphere as holographic streams of light. With the starfighter still in its pumpkin seed configuration, LCDR Reynolds was obliged to maintain a headfirst, prone posture inside his cockpit. His arms and fingers extended toward the direction of starfighter’s fall. The starfighter’s narrow silhouette provided the best chance for slipping between the rain of enemy fire coming at it.

ENERGY ATTACK! ENERGY ATTACK! The computer suddenly began blaring.

“SSP,” LCDR Reynolds yelled out in response.

Within a second, the computer activated its Smoke Screen Program. The shell of the starfighter cracked apart just enough for the two railgun arms to rotate a little as they rifled out a dozen warheads per second. Each projectile flew out the railgun like flashes of light, separating into four warheads and detonating a millisecond later. A second after the Smoke Screen Program started, the starfighter was whizzing through a tunnel of bright sparks. Outside of the starfighter the detonations looked like hundreds of flashbulbs going off every few seconds. The rain of warheads continued to dominate LCDR Reynolds attention. All his concentration was devoted to the continuous shifting of the starfighter’s track to elude incoming warheads. With each passing second, the struggle to remain intact became more and more frenetic. Maneuvering between the streams of projectiles coming at him was the whole purpose of LCDR Reynolds' entire existence at that moment. He knew he was only seconds away from having his starfighter torn apart, and then a white dot appeared in his sensor field display. The object it represented had just been enveloped by the starfighter’s sensor field bubble and was moving across its forward portion. A second later. the dot turned into a circle and was computer tagged as the Colossus.

“SSP stop!” LCDR Reynolds yelled out.

Smoke Screen Program immediately stopped. It was almost a reflex action for LCDR Reynolds. He knew his starfighter was seconds away from being destroyed, and he knew stopping the Smoke Screen Program cut that time in half, but in his mind, this was his now or never moment. He quickly turned his hands up at the wrist so that his palms were facing forward, causing the rear thrusters to shut down and activating the reverse thrusters.

“Maneuvering thrusters—railguns!” LCDR Reynolds yelled at the computer.

The computer surrendered manual control of the maneuvering thrusters, the railguns and the targeting system to LCDR Reynolds. The transfer of control happened instantly. A display of crosshairs appeared on the monitor and directly in front of LCDR Reynolds. The intersection of the lines represented the point of the starfighter's nose. Using his hands, feet, arms and legs, he maneuvered the crosshairs over the white circle tagged as Colossus. Once the Colossus was targeted, the circle turned red. All the starfighter’s warheads were configured to intersect the Colossus before detonating.

LCDR Reynolds knew that expanding his starfighter into its humanoid orientation would make him a much larger target, and it would cost him time that he feared he did not have. The success of his action was highly dependent upon speed. His instinct told him that the moment to act was in the half second before the destruction of his starfighter. Reflexes and muscle memory operated his movements in place of calculated thinking. With a growl, he pushed back against the terror he was feeling, and clenched his hands into fists.

The instant LCDR Reynolds clenched his fists, the railguns of his starfighter began spewing out warheads. Seventy-five warheads were rifled out of the twin railguns per second. Each projectile spurted out with a bright spark of electricity. It took a millisecond for each warhead to disappear into the black of space. After a sustain fire of four seconds, LCDR Reynolds was violently tossed toward the left wall of the sphere. The repulsive magnetism between the cockpit walls and his flight suit stopped him from slamming into the side of the sphere. Flashes of static mixed with display data erupted across the monitors.

Impact damage—Hull BREACHed

Immediately after the computer blurted out that report, a second violent jolt tossed LCDR Reynolds up against the side of the sphere to his left and the monitors went dark. An instant later, LCDR Reynolds found himself being tossed about within his sphere. The speed and violence of the jarring did not give him time to think about what was happening. His instincts governed his reactions to the forces pushing and pulling him about in the cockpit. A second after the buffeting started, a small round door opened and the light from the other side beamed into the cockpit. In that same moment, LCDR Reynolds could feel his suit being pulled toward the door. It took three seconds for him to slide along the side of the sphere and then drop through the opening like water down a drain. The door quickly shut once he settled inside the escape pod. Then the buffeting stopped.

For the first time since the start of this event, LCDR Reynolds took the time to think about what had and was happening. His mind told him that he was in the escape pod and that he was suspended inside its zero-gravity field. He recalled the process that separated the escape capsule from the starfighter. He remembered that the pod’s insulation would deafen the sound of explosive bolts blasting away component parts built around the escape pod housing. He remembered that the zero-gravity field inside the pod would dampen much of the sensation of movement. He remembered that the escape pod battery was made to maintain the life support system for no less than 500 hours. He remembered how the pod’s computer operated medical equipment put the occupant into a comatose state. Then he began losing all these memories as his mind faded into unconsciousness.


	26. Colossus

“Battlestar approaching—seven o’clock low and accelerating. ETA to combat zone nine minutes.”

ADM Chaffin took a couple of seconds to note what CIC crewman LT Butler was referring to, then he turned his attention back toward the 341 DPG09 starfighters coming at his basestar head on. The approach of this lone battlestar was given next to no consideration in ADM Chaffin’s thinking. The logic behind its advance was obvious to him as was its futility. It made perfect sense that ADM McCall would want battlestars to participate in this assault. Their large sensor fields would be a much-needed asset in the absence of the massive sensor field of a basestar. But ADM McCall was convinced that one battlestar would not make it through the torrent of defensive fire that Colossus could produce. It was for this reason that ADM Chaffin did not consider positioning a squadron of starfighters between Colossus and the battlestar. He thought it unlikely that this one battlestar would dare to engage with Colossus, and he wanted to inflict maximum damage to the Orion Starfighter Force attacking at the front. In ADM Chaffin's mind, the fact that this one battlestar was going to take part in this engagement made it the first of several battlestars that would soon be destroyed.

“Captain, divert.”

CAPT Hoffman not only anticipated ADM Chaffin’s command, he was waiting for the authority to act upon it. He quickly gave the order to his helmsman to alter the trajectory of Colossus five degrees to the left and ten down. Outside of the basestar, the large main thrusters on the underside of Colossus shutdown and a dozen tiny maneuvering thrusters began rotating the basestar. With surprising quickness, the rotating stopped when the main thrusters faced one o’clock high. An instant after the rotating stopped, the main thrusters came to life for a short burn. When this burn stopped, the basestar rotated back to its original position and began thrusting forward again. The purpose of this maneuver was to put the basestar someplace other than where it would be five minutes into its original trajectory. The DPG09 starfighters were sure to be blind to this trajectory change, and at the end of five minutes some of their starfighters were sure to be close enough to envelope Colossus with their own sensor fields.

“Konoval, concentrate starfighters on all enemy starfighters approaching combat-range,” ADM Chaffin commanded.

Far out in front of Colossus, its starfighters began forming up to engage with the starfighters of the Orion. The coming collision of forces was being digitally displayed on hundreds of monitors throughout the basestar. The Orion starfighters were in free fall and coming in fast. The Colossus starfighters were in reverse thrust, causing them to slow their approach and promising to lengthen the period of engagement between the two forces. The goal of the Colossus starfighters was to destroy as many enemy starfighters as they could and to force the survivors off their trajectory. The goal of the Orion starfighters was to get past the enemy starfighters and to stay on trajectory as best they could.

“Starfighters are engaging” CDR Konoval announced to the command capsule crew after nearly a minute of silence.

Nearly everyone in the capsule was already watching the clash of starfighters as CDR Konoval spoke. The holographic monitor at the center of the capsule was highlighting the movements of hundreds of starfighters with blue and yellow microdots. At the start, a dozen microdots every few seconds were turning red and then winking out. The computer displayed a running tally of loses and kills. Thirty seconds into the battle, dozens of microdots were turning red and disappearing from the monitors every second. It took just over a minute for the two opposing forces to past through and begin to fall away from each other.

“Captain, 211 enemy starfighters made it through,” CDR Nielsen reported in a rush. “I estimate about 60 of them will pass through our combat zone and about a third of them will come into close-range. Seven of those are on a trajectory that will bring them within lethal-range of Colossus.”

“Time to combat-range?” CAPT Hoffman yelled out.

“Two minutes,” CDR Nielsen returned on the quick.

“Charge all weapons,” CAPT Hoffman called out after hearing CDR Nielsen’s report. 

“Konoval, what are our losses?” CAPT Hoffman yelled out.

“Forty-four starfighters destroyed or out of commission,” CDR Konoval reported back. “We’re getting 43 beacons and the biotelemetry on 37 pilots.”

CAPT Hoffman switched his attention back CDR Nielsen.

“Nielsen, what's the time to combat-range on that battlestar?” CAPT Hoffman queried with urgency.

CDR Nielsen took a moment to read the data.

“Four minutes and change, Captain” CDR Nielsen reported with a sharp delivery.

CAPT Hoffman turned to the senior officer of his weapons team with speed.

“Galliano, task a quarter of Colossus' guns to that battlestar,” CAPT Hoffman commanded with aggression. “When it enters combat-range start firing on it and don't stop until it's destroyed.”

“Roger that, Captain,” LCDR Ethan Galliano snapped back.

CAPT Hoffman did not want to run the risk of forgetting about the DPG09 battlestar during their battle with the approaching starfighters. He surmised that the sensor field of the battlestar would soon envelope most of the battlespace between Colossus and the DPG09 starfighters. Preventing this from happening meant destroying the battlestar soon after it came within combat-range of Colossus. CAPT Hoffman wanted to eliminate its sensor field as soon as possible despite the minuscule effect he expected it have. The sensor field of this lone battlestar was a resource that he was determined to deny the starfighters.

“Starfighters approaching combat-range,” CDR Nielsen yelled out.

“Shut down main thrusters,” CAPT Hoffman yelled out in response. “Charge all weapons. Set DED System to automatic. Helm, adjust bearing to edge on.”

The command capsule crew of the Colossus Basestar responded to CAPT Hoffman’s orders with practiced precision. Externally, the massive basestar began to bristle with armaments as it rotated into an edge on fall through space. This posture presented the thinnest target for the starfighters that were coming head on. Along the top and bottom perimeters of the massive disk shape spaceship, hundreds of railguns protruded up from the interior of the hull. When looking at the whole basestar, these deployments were not noticeable to an unsuspecting viewer. From a distance they took on the appearance of a minute decorative fringe. Particle beam cannons were interspersed among the railguns at a ratio of 1 to 30. Each railgun and particle beam cannon was capable of being independently aimed or directed as part of a group.

“Starfighters entering combat zone,” CDR Nielsen called after a short silence.

“Fire railguns,” CAPT Hoffman yelled. “Concentrate railguns at targets on lethal and close-range trajectories.”

ADM Chaffin listened and watched as the battle unfolded. He was content to watch CAPT Hoffman defend his basestar in silence. He heard and saw nothing that made him want to overrule the commands he heard. Everything was transpiring as he expected.

“Sensor field,” CDR Nielsen shouted. “Enemy battlestar approaching combat-range,” he continued. “Enemy battlestar entering combat zone,” he called out a second behind.

“Targeting battlestar,” LCDR Galliano yelled out. “Eighty railguns firing now.”

CAPT Hoffman and ADM Chaffin gave a momentary notice to the battlestar approaching from their seven o’clock low, and then they turned their attention back to the starfighters approaching head-on.

“Incoming fire from the starfighters,” CDR Nielsen reported.

“DED went active,” LCDR Galliano announced. “All cannons in the green.”

“Three enemy starfighters destroyed,” CDR Nielsen called out an instant behind LCDR Galliano’s report. “Tracking 16 starfighters on a trajectory that will bring them into close-range.”

What felt like a long silence to the crew filled the command capsule for nearly ten seconds.

“Five enemy starfighters destroyed. Eleven starfighters approaching close-range threshold,” CDR Nielsen yelled.

CAPT Hoffman and ADM Chaffin took a moment to focus their personal monitors on the track of the battlestar. They were both curious about its disposition. They both knew the enemy starfighters had to be using the battlestar’s sensor field to target Colossus.

“What’s happening with that battlestar?” CAPT Hoffman questioned as he noted a fuzzy ball of static moving across his display.

“It’s producing a large static screen,” LCDR Galliano responded, bewildered. “The targeting computer hasn’t been able to lock on to it.”

“Fire into that cloud!” ADM Chaffin ordered LCDR Galliano.

“We’re doing that, Admiral” LCDR Galliano quickly responded.

“Double the guns!” CAPT Hoffman roared.

“Tasking an additional 80 railguns—now,” LCDR Galliano spoke out seemingly to himself.

A silence briefly filled the capsule, then LCDR Nielsen announced an update on the movement of the starfighters. A total of thirteen enemy starfighters were destroyed and six were crossing the close-range threshold. Six starfighters were considered less than a significant threat. The closer they were to Colossus the greater the threat Colossus was to them. The dominant concern at that moment was the battlestar. Its continued existence had everyone surprised but not worried.

“The battlestar is still on an approach trajectory,” CDR Nielsen reported.

This report was based on the continued existence of the static cloud and its steady movement forward. A handful of seconds later, LCDR Galliano gave a report update.

“Enemy battlestar approaching close-range threshold.”

LCDR Nielsen followed LCDR Galliano’s update by announcing a total of seventeen enemy starfighters were destroyed by Colossus’ railguns. Eight of them were destroyed inside Colossus’ combat zone and another nine were destroyed inside the basestar’s close-range zone.

“Enemy battlestar inside close-range zone,” LCDR Galliano called out a second later. “No incoming fire.”

The missing return fire was no great surprise to ADM Chaffin or CAPT Hoffman. They knew that railgun fire could be tracked back to the battlestar. They also knew that if the battlestar did not fire its railguns soon, it would be destroyed before it could.

“Twenty-four enemy starfighters destroyed,” CDR Nielsen shouted. “Fifteen starfighters in the combat zone with one starfighter approaching close-range.”

The mood within the command capsule was now noticeably elevated behind this report. Everyone could see that the bulk of the DPG09 starfighters were beginning to drift past the Colossus. All but one of the starfighters that were on a trajectory that would pass through Colossus’ lethal-range zone had been destroyed. The mood was further buoyed by the sight of the enemy battlestar moving out from under its static screen, turning red and then disappearing from the monitor.

“Battlestar destroyed,” LCDR Galliano bellowed. “Enemy sensor field is gone.”

There were several cheers and whoops from several crewmembers in the capsule. ADM Chaffin and CAPT Hoffman showed only a small measure of relief. They expected this ending for the battlestar. They had just turned their attention back to the starfighters that were falling past Colossus when they were startled by the shout “starfighter!”

“Enemy starfighter approaching lethal-range threshold,” CDR Nielsen called out. “Sensor field!” He yelled out an instant behind. “It's got eyes,” he finished with alarm.

ADM Chaffin and CAPT Hoffman were shocked to see the lone starfighter charging forward along the same trajectory of the battlestar.

“Fire on that starfighter!” CAPT Hoffman yelled in panic.

LCDR Galliano was already action before the order was given. In less than two seconds, 160 railguns were spewing warheads at the approaching starfighter. Compared to the battlestar, the starfighter was tiny and far more agile. It continued to slip through the rain of warheads coming at it.

“Starfighter approaching lethal-range threshold!” CDR Nielsen yelled out in shock.

“DED engaged,” LCDR Galliano reported with alarm. 

Immediately, the starfighter began producing its own static screen. A second later, the starfighter crossed into Colossus’ lethal-range zone. Suddenly the capsule went silent. Eyes filled with dread were fixed on the main holographic monitor. Everyone knew what could happen in the next couple of seconds. The starfighter was close enough to be an immense threat to Colossus, but it was also second away from being destroyed by Colossus. Inside the next second, the starfighter moved out of the static smoke screen it had produced, turned red and disappeared from the screen. But events were moving too fast for anyone in the capsule to experience any relief.

Evade! Evade! Evade!

The helmsman reacted to the computer alarm without waiting for orders. One second into his attempt to adjust the basestar’s profile so that it was edge on toward the threat, a slight jolt rattled through the capsule.

Hull breach, the computer reported.

“We’re tumbling,” the helmsman yelled.

This report did not surprise anyone inside the capsule. A slight feel of inertia had crewmembers on one side of the capsule leaning forward and to the left. On the opposite side, the crewmembers were being pushed back and to the right. Seconds later, two more jolts rattled the capsule. The pull of inertia was greater this time. Arms and hands flew up toward the capsule ceiling and torsos tugged at the restraints that kept them tethered inside their escape pods.

Multiple hull breaches—Main engines offline—Power production down 63%

Another jolt pressed the crewmembers hard to the left and back into their escape pods. In that same moment all the displays, monitors and lights in the capsule went out. A second later, the emergency lamps switched on and an alarm klaxon began blaring. The computer monitors began powering back up a couple of seconds after that.

Catastrophic failure—Reactors off-line—Capsule on battery power

In response to the basestar computer’s report, ADM Chaffin initiated the abandon ship operation with a voice command seconded by CAPT Hoffman and CDR Nielsen. The computer responded by empowering crewmembers throughout the basestar to eject their space capsule out of the framework that kept them secured beneath the hull. From the outside, these jettison sites looked like a large patchwork of hexagon lids built into the center of the basestar disk. One after the other, these lids began blowing away in quicken repetition. Beneath the lids were large cone shaped space capsules. Immediately after a lid blew away, the capsule blasted out and fell away into the surrounding space. Through his personal monitor, ADM Chaffin examined the tattered and broken remnants of Basestar Colossus as his command and control space capsule fell away into the black. 


	27. Frank and Charlotte

“Frank, what are you doing down here?” Charlotte queried with a look concern.

Frank Weaver was seated on the sofa in the family room of his five-bedroom promenade floor home in the Starship Berenberg. The wall monitor, across from the sofa, dimly illuminated room. A newscast was airing on the monitor, but there was no sound. Captions of what was being said traced across the bottom of the screen. A concerned Charlotte noted Frank's blank stare and his minimal interest in what was being broadcast.

“I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep,” Frank mumbled in response while staring at the monitor.

“Aw, you should have wakened me,” Charlotte sighed as she cuddled next to Frank.

“I didn't want to do that,” Frank returned with a slight shake of his head.

“Did anything happen?” a concerned Charlotte questioned.

“No,” Frank returned with melancholy.

Charlotte’s question was about the periodic Radstar data dumps from the Sol System. She surmised that Frank had been watching the news for a report from either of the war-machine commanders in the Sol System. Frank’s depression started early yesterday afternoon when ADM McCall’s report to his employers was broadcast to the public. The Sol System transmission was relayed through the recently established Radstar Communication Network. In the message, ADM McCall reported the destruction of Basestar Goliath. Frank went into a sullen dread when he heard that report. From that moment on, his disposition was in a steady decline. Charlotte's best efforts were unsuccessful in raising his spirits, but failure was not enough to prevent her from trying again.

“Babe, you heard the report,” Charlotte exclaimed with enthusiasm. “The DPG got clobbered. They lost half their starfighters. They’re going to lose.”

“You don’t know that,” Frank countered.

“And you don’t know that they won’t,” Charlotte challenged sternly. “Stop hurting yourself,” she softened. “When you’re sad it makes me sad.”

“So, this is about you?” Frank returned, annoyed.

“No. I didn’t mean it that way,” Charlotte continued. “Frank, come on, it’s going to be okay. I promise. I can feel it.”

“We should have made some battlestars,” Frank grumbled to himself. “I knew we should have made some battlestars.”

In ADM McCall’s report on the destruction of Basestar Goliath and the size of the WDF02 War-Machine that was still in place, he also announced his losses. At the urging of the casinos, this information was also given to the public. The hope was that it would encourage more betting; and it did. The odds against DPG09 went down by a quarter, but they continued to stay in WDF02’s favor. The information about DPG09 losses gave some consolation to most WDF02 investors, but it gave none to Frank Weaver. He had further to fall than they. The other stockholders invested what they could afford, Frank was gambling with all he had.

Eight hours after their early morning conversation, Frank and Charlotte were dressed and leaving out through the front door of their home. Since the deployment of the DPG09 War-Machine and the Radstar Communication Network, it was normal for Frank and Charlotte to spend their afternoons and evenings out of the house. Frank’s work ended when the WDF02 War-Machine left the Sol System. The free time this created gave Frank and Charlotte the luxury of doing whatever they wanted or nothing at all. The deployment of the Radstar connection between BX01’s Casinos and the Sol System made the gambling houses of Starship Warburg the most popular places to be in the starcorp.

The Warburg Majestic Casino was near to its capacity of patrons when Frank and Charlotte arrived arm-in-arm. Frank was attired in his usual sharply tailored tuxedo with an artsy pattern print on the jacket. His hair was cut and groomed to perfection. Charlotte was adorned with a sleeveless, triangle bodice, spaghetti strapped, backless, floor length, light blue gown with a flared skirt. Her jewelry consisted of a modest pair of stud diamond earrings, a diamond ring and a diamond string bracelet. Her hair was expertly coiffed, and her smile was the most stunning feature she had on display.

Moving through the main room of the Majestic Casino was slow going for Frank and Charlotte because of their popularity more than the anything else. They were repeatedly stopped by greetings, questions and small talk by people they knew, and some did not. Frank Weaver was the most famous person in all the starcorps. Nearly everyone in the casino wanted to shake his hand. He rebuffed a dozen lunch invitations on his way to the Regal Dining Room at the far side of the main gambling floor. Frank and Charlotte routinely lunched here while at the Majestic.

Frank’s main purpose for coming to the Majestic were the news monitors. The casino’s sportsbook department was constantly seeking, collecting and displaying news about the war between Starcorps DPG09 and WDF02. From the Regal Room, Frank could monitor the news coming in from a dozen different video screens situated along the walls and attached to the ceilings. The vantage point provided by the Regal Dining did not go unnoticed by numerous people of wealth and power. Frank and Charlotte often found themselves sharing their table with people of wealth and renown. The Majestic Casino’s Regal Room became the meeting place for wealthy investors and gamblers who wagered heavily on the outcome of this war.

Today, the Regal Room was filled to capacity. Every table was reserved for its present and for future occupants over the next ten days. The excitement generated by the destruction of Basestar Goliath had all the inhabitants of BX01 anxiously awaiting the next update from the Sol System. The patrons of the Majestic Casino were there for the added entertainment of seeing the faces and behaviors of the winners and losers.

Frank and Charlotte had taken seats at their usual table inside the Regal Room. They were waiting on their lunches and began consuming cocktails when Ryan DeWitt arrived. Ryan went to his usual table on the far side of the room. He and Frank exchanged glances and nods. Ryan included a sly smile with his gesture. He was accompanied by one of his seven male consorts, Michael Hardwick. They were both elegantly attired and Michael’s appearance had a decidedly effeminate flare. They walked into the Regal Room arm-in-arm. Michael was attended to by Ryan like any cherished female consort. Brian Hayes, and his consort, Adele Marsan, frequently shared a table with Ryan for these outings.

There were many more DPG09 and WDF02 Directors present today—far more so than usual. WDF02 Director Ronald Dryer and his consort, Tonya Richardson, joined Frank and Charlotte a few minutes after them. Other WDF02 Directors present were Marvin Purell, George Felton, Peter Karrenbauer and Joel Bobrov. They too were accompanied by their consorts. These gatherings in the Regal Room were social by design, but the mindset was all business. Radstar provided three data dumps daily. Everyone was expecting the second data dump within the next two hours.

After about an hour, Charlotte left the table to mingle with friends on the main casino floor. Ronald and Tonya did the same a few minutes later. Frank contented himself with the play of Keno through the tabletop computer interface while occasionally sipping on his Whiskey Sour. Waiting for news from the Sol System would not allow him to engage in any of the social practices that he generally enjoyed. Twenty minutes after Charlotte’s departure, Frank’s losses were twelve times his winnings, his Whiskey Sour was melted ice and Ryan DeWitt was rejoicing at the news someone was giving him through his commlink.

“Yes! Yes! Send it to them,” Ryan insisted in a jubilant voice.

A dozen pair of eyes in the Regal Room turned toward Ryan in response to his joyful laughter. They watched as he ended his call and wound his commlink wand around his wrist with a wide smile on his face.

“What is it? What happened?” Michael queried.

Ryan DeWitt gave no answer other than a broad smile that stopped at the border to a grin. After a short stare into the eyes of his consort, he took his face into his hands and gave him a strong kiss on the lips. Ryan then pushed him away and stood up. The chatter of multiple conversations came to a stop as all attentions fixed on Ryan. His statuesque stance and his stare across the room had most believing he was about to say something. Frank knew that his stare was a message to him, and it terrified him.

After several seconds of silence among the Regal Room occupants, the music video on the monitors suddenly switched to a live newscaster. A large caption at the bottom of the screen displayed the words BREAKING NEWS. The newscaster cleared his throat, looked up into the camera and began to speak.

“We have breaking news out of the Sol System. The executive office of Starcorp DPG09 has sent us the video message they received from Admiral McCall, commander of their war-machine deployed to the system. We are just now getting this, so we will be viewing it for the first time with you.”

After this statement, the image on the screen changed to the video recording of ADM McCall speaking from his Basestar Orion space capsule’s escape pod.

“This is a status report to the Starcorp DPG09 Board of Directors from Admiral Kenneth McCall Commanding Officer of the DPG09 War-Machine deployed to the Sol System. Be advised, WDF02 Basestar Colossus, the last enemy capital spaceship of war in the star system, has been destroyed. At present, we are scouring the vicinity for a sizeable number of enemy starfighters, but we anticipate the surrender of all active enemy spacecraft within the next 10 to 15 hours. Basestar Orion is intact and undamaged. Starfighter and battlestar losses are high. These losses and the continued presence of active enemy starfighters notwithstanding, be advised, Starcorp War-Machine DPG09 has achieved its assigned objective. The WDF02 War-Machine has been eliminated. The Sol Star System is now under Starcorp DPG09 control. Additional reports will be sent as events here evolve. I await your orders on how to proceed with regards to the Sol System Union. This is Admiral Kenneth McCall, out.”

An assortment of applauses, cheers, screams and howls erupted throughout the Regal Room and casino floor. Frank was devastated by this report. For the first time in his life, he felt a pronounced sensation of fear. He was stunned into silence. From across the room Ryan DeWitt watched Frank with a smug look of satisfaction. For Ryan, this moment was the crowning achievement of his life. For Frank, it was the single greatest anguished of his existence.

A minute into this celebratory commotion, Frank stood up and began a slow walk for the casino exit. His movement went unnoticed by most of the patrons. They were either elated by their winnings or despondent by their losses. The patrons who did see him thought it better not to intrude on his thoughts. It took Frank a few minutes to reach the front exit of the Majestic Casino. He saw more cheering and excitement in the less congested promenade of the Starship Warburg. At a bewildered pace, he made his way to a transit portal and inserted himself into the first available transport pod. He took the pod to the Warburg docking bay and boarded the next shuttle going out to Starship Berenberg. During his travel, Frank said as little as needed with anyone he had to deal with and nothing to everyone else. Twelve minutes later, he disembarked from the shuttle and made his way to the suite of offices he maintained on the 74th floor in one of Berenberg’s six central towers.

It was normal for Frank’s suite of offices to be locked and empty. His lease was only three months old. Personnel had yet to be hired. Frank’s financial investment plans had yet to be developed. This center tower office was Frank's future. This was where he was to become a super wealthy investor and entrepreneur. This was the location where he would run his business empire. This was the dream he now had to give up.

Frank spent the remainder of the afternoon looking out over Berenberg’s promenade floor. He watched the distant specks of people move about far below him and mused about their lives. He watched the overhead promenade lights dim to evening dusk. He ignored more than a dozen incoming calls while ruminating about his future. Most of the calls were coming from Charlotte, but Frank was in no hurry to entertain that conversations. He was eight hours into his brood over what could have been when that conversation came to him.

“Frank, are you okay?” Charlotte questioned as she walked into the office.

The large office was mostly empty. A large desk with an equally impressive chair behind it was the only furniture in the room. When Charlotte entered the office, the back of the chair was facing the desk. There were no decorations for the walls and floor, no freestanding lamps and all the built-in lighting fixtures were off. The lighting in the office was dimmed even more by the artificially produced moonlit night created for the promenade. Frank was seated in the chair behind the desk facing the ceiling-to-floor window that provided a view of the Berenberg Promenade. He swiveled his chair a quarter of the way around to the left so that he could look at Charlotte.

“I'm fine,” Frank softly responded to Charlotte’s question.

Charlotte walked into the middle of the office and stopped to look around at the vacant room. She took a moment longer to note the silence.

“What are you doing?” Charlotte asked with worry.

“Not now, Charlotte,” Frank dismissed with a shake of his head. “I don't feel like talking.”

“You can't just sit here,” Charlotte quickly disputed as she moved toward Frank.

Charlotte walked around the large desk and gently spoke to Frank. “Come home.”

“I don't have a home,” Frank insisted. “I don't have anything.”

Charlotte knew that Frank was speaking of his financial losses and how that would cost him his promenade floor home. She knew how much he cherished all the things he had accumulated as a result of his WDF02 Starcorp success. And because she knew Frank, she understood how painful this loss was to him.

“This is just a set back,” Charlotte declared with an optimistic flare. “You'll find something else. You always do.”

“No!” Frank countered with vehemence. “This was my chance. There will never be another opportunity like this for me. It's gone.”

Charlotte held her poise against Frank's forceful expression. She knew he was hurting, and that he would not hurt her. She wanted to help him. She wanted to say something ease his pain. After a moment of thought, she found her words and began to speak.

“Yes, you will, Frank. I know you. Selling and making deals is what you do. Trust me, you'll be back on your feet in no time.”

Frank’s pain was not eased by her words. He knew Charlotte did not understand the extent of his loss. In his mind she was naïve about business and did not understand he had borrowed against anticipated future earnings to create the life they had been living for the past two years. He suspected she did not understand bankruptcy would likely be a part of his near future. He gave his thought a snicker and a shake of his head.

“Don't you get it?” Frank asked in a soft voice. “I'm over my head in debt. I'm going to have to sell everything to pay off my loans. It's all gone.”

“Okay, its all gone,” Charlotte decried. “But it's not the end of you.”

“Just go away, Charlotte,” Frank returned with a dejectedly. “Let me have this time to…”

“No,” Charlotte interrupted with insistence. “I don't want to leave you here alone. You need to come home.”

“I don't have a home!” Frank argued. “It's all gone!”

“They're just things,” Charlotte returned in frustration. “They don't matter. You're still you. I’m still me. We'll deal with tomorrow when it comes.”

Frank had no reply. He bowed his head down and shook it in despair. Charlotte took a moment to note the depth of his anguish and then went down on her knees in front of him so that her head was on the same level as his and inches away.

“Come home with me, Frank,” Charlotte softly pleaded.

Frank turned his face up and looked into Charlotte’s eyes with a mournful expression. He gave her a hint of a smile and shook his head slightly.

“I can't afford you anymore.”

Charlotte smiled in response, and then she cupped Frank's face between her hands.

“Aw Frank,” Charlotte returned with an affectionate stare. “You couldn't afford me when we were living in HL02.”

Frank noted the sincerity in Charlotte’s eyes and voice. Despite an effort to contain it, he released a quick chortle. Charlotte responded with a brief grin followed by a wide smile. She then leaned forward and placed a kiss to Frank's lips. A swell of affection rose up within Frank and he leaned forward for a second kiss. Charlotte extended her arms out and around Frank's neck and pulled him deeper into the kiss. Moments into this kiss, Frank took Charlotte's waist into his hands and pulled her up off her knees. Still locked in their embrace, Charlotte climbed up into Frank's lap as they continued to kiss.

**THE END**


End file.
